• decreased sterilization cycle times by 30 minutes;
• prevented them from having to run 2 sterilizers (6 trays couldn't fit
in a single load) to reprocess the instruments used during a single
case;
• decreased the time it took them to apply blue wrap to sterilized
instruments from 45 minutes to 15 minutes; and
• saved us $8.83 in the per-case costs of purchasing blue wrap, tray
liners and chemical integrators.
Here's how to educate and empower your sterile processing techs to
actively look for similar ways to reduce the amount of instrumenta-
tion that's used and subsequently reprocessed.
Rightsize trays. When techs receive case carts in sterile process-
ing, ask them to analyze the items surgeons did — and didn't —
use to see if any "peel-packing" opportunities present themselves. It
might be possible to create smaller custom peal-packed trays to avoid
opening up a full instrument set from which only half the items are
used.
This practice can also help your team better manage heavy work-
flow days. For example, on days when we were doing back-to-back
shoulder cases, we'd run through a lot of instruments. Instead of buy-
ing additional instruments, several techs worked with our primary
vendor, analyzed the flow and order of the cases, and came up with a
solution: 2 additional consolidated shoulder trays (or mini-trays)
made up of only high-use instruments that we could use to maintain
the case flow without purchasing additional full trays. So, as our techs
are processing a complete set of instruments from one case, they put
a mini-tray into rotation for the next case to avoid downtime. Because
of the techs' problem-solving, we're able to schedule back-to-back
cases and keep the surgical schedule on track without having to pur-
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