Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Snuffing Out Surgical Smoke - December 2019 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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ical requirements specified by equipment manufacturers and regulations. 5. Standardize instructions. Don't rely on word of mouth when training new techs. There should be written explanations, photos and checklists that explain what they need to do, how to set up their workstations, how to clean instruments and how to maintain equip- ment. Checklists in the OR improve patient safety and outcomes. The same is true for SPD. The waiting game There is another waste that gets eliminated: Waiting. Nobody wants to be in an operating room, with a patient on the table under anesthesia, waiting for an instrument. Been there; done that; don't' like it. We aren't being patient safety-minded and can't call ourselves patient-cen- tered care advocates if we allow this to happen to our patients due to an inefficient or broken process. We all want the same thing, which is high-quality patient care. In SPD and the OR, this can be accomplished with processes that consis- tently provide the right instruments and equipment to the right place in the right condition at the right time. I know it seems overwhelming, but the results this hospital realized can be achieved anywhere, and these 5 tips can help. As a first step, go to where the work is being done and encourage your staff to voice their concerns and challenges. Your staff already has the answers and solutions you seek. Listen to them and encourage experimentation and change. That is how you can create a culture of patient safety and continuous improvement in a high-reliability organization. OSM 1 0 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 Dr. Mandel (rachelmandelmd@gmail.com), a board-certified OB-GYN, is the senior healthcare advisor for Operational Performance Solutions (OPS), in addi- tion to leading her own healthcare consulting company.

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