Scheduling overlapping procedures is perceived as risky, despite lack of robust evidence regarding its impact on patient safety. This commentary explains that the practice is primarily detrimental to the physician–patient relationship and that building trust is a key strategy to manage this concern. The authors suggest transparency with patients about scheduling practices and hospital oversight to ensure accountability would assist in establishing the trust in overlapping surgeries.

Scheduling overlapping surgeries may improve operating room efficiency, but the practice can reduce safety. This perspective describes strategies to decrease risks associated with concurrent operations, including establishing policies to guide such practices, documenting when surgeons are present in the operating room, and explaining the procedure to patients before obtaining informed consent.

Clinician rating sites may not always provide the best information to help patients choose providers and hospitals. This commentary reviews concerns associated with using these scoring systems and recommends that patients communicate with providers and ask questions to better inform their selection process.