Resiliency, a term that has cropped up repeatedly during the COVID-19 pandemic, is often considered a key defense against burnout. But it is also important in the context of the healthcare supply chain, says Ed Hisscock, senior vice president of supply chain management at Trinity Health, a 22-state healthcare system…

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The financial impact of COVID-19 on healthcare providers has been considerable. With experts predicting that half of all US hospitals would be operating in the red by the end of 2020, healthcare leaders have had to seek multiple ways to cut costs. The expansion of single-use medical device (SUD) reprocessing…

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Editor’s Note. Developing and sustaining competent sterile processing staff is critical for patient safety, yet there is a dearth of formal educational programs for this function. Whitman Partners, a Portland, Oregon-based specialty search firm dedicated to placing directors of surgical services at hospitals and surgery centers nationwide, asked former surgical…

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New recommendations developed from evidence-based research have been added to AORN’s Guideline for Care and Cleaning of Surgical Instruments. Several of these changes will have an impact on the quality of processing in sterile processing (SP) areas. This latest version, released on October 12, 2020, includes industry changes that have…

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Imagine that during a total joint surgical procedure, debris comes out of a surgical instrument and lands directly inside a patient’s open wound. Although such a scenario is rare, when it does occur, it creates a major patient infection risk. Many standards and guidelines recommend best practices that can help…

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With more technologically advanced procedures being performed in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), it’s increasingly important to monitor data on supplies and manage physician preferences for particular implants. Physicians don’t always realize that reimbursement is lower for many procedures performed in an ASC than in hospitals, and therefore they may not…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on August 12 released its sentinel event statistics for the first half of 2020. From January 1 through June 30, the Joint Commission reviewed 437 sentinel events. The most frequently reported events were in the following categories: Care management, 165 Surgical or invasive procedures, 131…

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Orthopedic implants comprise a significant percentage of an OR’s costs, so effectively managing contracts for these items can help OR leaders in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) bolster the bottom lines of their organizations. “The contract is your best mechanism to control the influx of non-anticipated items, resolve overcharges,…

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Resuming elective surgical procedures is critical for recovering revenue lost during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and treating patients whose health may have been compromised while awaiting surgery. Timetables and protocols for resuming those procedures tend to differ by facility, but OR leaders nationwide feel that “we’re all…

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Hospitals nationwide have thousands of unique instrument trays that take up valuable space on their shelves. Many trays are cluttered with rarely used instruments that are there “just in case.” The problem can be particularly acute in large health systems. Across Cleveland Clinic’s multiple locations in northeast Ohio, for example,…

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