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R E P R O C E S S I N G
6 Document and track
Staying on top of your instrument reprocessing practices to ensure rapid cycles are never used solely to keep up with case volume requires daily oversight. You might have to move cases or tweak the day's schedule to ensure instruments go through regular reprocessing cycles.
Look at your block schedules. Do you have several surgeons doing many joint procedures on a single day? Delaying the start time of a case or moving blocks around to ensure implants are run through complete sterilization cycles is never a bad option. If you can't move blocks, tell instrument vendors you won't have enough instrumentation to cover the caseload and request they send additional tools. Or perhaps you can alternate case types — hip, knee, hip, knee — to give your reprocessing team time to get needed instruments back to the ORs without resorting to immediate-use sterilization. The surgical team should document in the operative report every item put through rapid-cycle sterilization. Review the items they note monthly, looking for trends. If you're repeatedly putting the same instruments
