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Paycheck vs Purchasing Power - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine - January 2018

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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Rigid Sealed Containers Here's why many facilities are moving away from blue wrap. B lue wrap is cheap, boundless and easy to dispose, but in this case, the cheaper the option, the higher the risk. Blue wrap tears. When it does, the tray and instruments contained in the blue wrap have to be re-sterilized. Surgical facilities large and small are finding rigid sealed containers to be more reliable ways to pack, deliver and hold instruments before, during and after sterilization. Buying containers might seem like a costly measure upfront as opposed to using blue wrap. A few years ago, our 2-hospital system invested $606,300 in containers. At $1,290 per container, we bought about 300 for one hospital and 170 for another. Here are the benefits we've experienced that already have made the investment a worth- while one. • You'll save in the long run. Though the initial cost of the contain- ers might seem steep at first, what you save by cutting spending on blue wrap quickly adds up. Sealed containers last for 15 or 20 years and eliminate the waste of single-use wrap. Plus, with the availability of sizes and flexible storage designs within, they can hold a higher vol- ume of instruments that can be arranged according to preference or need. With a higher volume of instruments going through at a faster turnover rate, you can schedule more cases and bring in more rev- enue, knowing your sterile processing department is running more efficiently. In the long run, what you're paying for is better staff effi- ciency, and it's hard to put a price on that. • Faster dry times. Another benefit that some containers feature is a filtered base that reduces dry time after sterilization. This feature lets steam fill the container during reprocessing, and then filter through and escape once the process is complete without condensa- tion gathering, making the container and instruments ready for use 1 0 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 8 Thinking of Buying … Erinta Betarello-Hemerka, MBA

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