who sell the surgical implants necessary for the procedure will pro-
vide much of the instrumentation. Because this instrumentation is
often not facility-owned, it is imperative that all quality processing and
inspection standards are met to properly prepare them for surgery.
This includes requiring adequate delivery timelines for instrument
processing (typically 48 hours prior to the surgical procedure), manu-
facturer's instructions for use and FDA-approved packaging methods.
Vendor instruments delivered late or with incomplete documentation
can be a root cause for a number of preventable serious safety events
in the operating room.
A standard of excellence
Even though the quality of a facility's surgical instrument program
is a critical indicator for safe and efficient surgeries, many facilities
still struggle with knowing where to start to best support these
departments in providing excellent surgical instrumentation to their
OR teams. From industry certification to vendor compliance, suc-
cess in this area is dependent upon collaborative leadership, hiring
practices, instrument repair programs, capital investment for
inspection technologies and instrument inventory, and enforcing
safety-oriented policies for the use of vendor-owned equipment.
Together, you can set the standard for sterile processing excellence
and ensure your instrument programs are best in class — every sur-
gery, every time.
OSM
Mr. Balch (weston.balch@uhs-sa.com) is the system director of sterile pro-
cessing for University Health System in San Antonio, Texas, and co-host of
the "Beyond Clean" industry podcast.
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