ENDOSCOPE GUIDE
Surgical suites mean business
Endoscopy drives patient care, revenue stream regardless of economic
conditions
by Rick Dana Barlow
T
here’s an old adage that if you That’s why Healthcare Purchasing News tifies best practices for device longev-
take care of your tools they will publishes its annual Endoscope Care ity and reliability, which can produce
take care of you. In hospital and Guide, a November edition staple for the high-quality patient care.
outpatient surgical suites and operat- last five years. We created it as a service We recruited experts and professionals
ing rooms, the reciprocal effect is for our readers to provide hard-working from some of the leading companies that
doubled because they take care of pa- clinicians and administrators with useful manufacture endoscopic products and of-
tients, too. information on cleaning, disinfecting, ster- fer endoscopic care services to share their
Consequently, it’s logical and neces- ilizing and repairing all types of flexible insights and intelligence on keeping these
sary for clinicians to take special care and rigid endoscopes thoroughly, effi- costly surgical tools primed and ready
of their valuable surgical tools. And ciently and cost-effectively. for action all year long.
with more surgeries performed using HPN’s exclusive guide also highlights So start reading and let the useful infor-
minimally invasive techniques, which and outlines the obvious, the hidden mation at your fingertips on the next few
involve high-cost endoscopic devices, and overlooked dangers from improper pages sink in. Your clinicians, patients and
it’s also a financial no-brainer. cleaning, repair and storage, and iden- endoscopic tools depend on it.
K
Tips on org
2009 ENDOSCOPE GUIDE
eeping an eye on repair reduction
anizing your GI lab for maximum device reliability
by Nancy Vacante, R.N., Olympus
A
s an endoscopy professional, you can lead to patient
ENDOSCOPE INVENTORY PER PROCEDURE ROOM
know that meticulous instrument and physician dissat-
(TRENDING DATA)
care and handling can go a long isfaction, unplanned
way in reducing your facility’s repair ex- staff overtime and
Scopes Per Procedure Room 2006 2007 2008 2009
penditures. But did you know that the or- increased scope han-
Upper workhorse 2.6 2.1 2.0 2.1
ganization and design of your GI lab also dling-related repairs.
impacts your daily operations as well as Benchmark data be-
Lower workhorse 3.5 3.2 3.1 3.3
your repair costs? Rethinking the layout tween 2006 and 2007
Upper specialty 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2
of your particular setting presents an ex- clearly shows a reduc-
cellent opportunity for you to cost-effec- tion in inventory lev-
Lower specialty 0.9 0.5 0.3 0.2
tively manage resources, improve your els across all facility
Courtesy of Olympus EndoSite® Consulting, 2009 Q3 Benchmark Data
facility’s flow and function, and poten- types, perhaps in re-
tially reduce your repair expenses. Here sponse to tightening budgets and a trend inventory sufficiently meets your typi-
are a few key things to consider: toward lean methodologies. However, af- cal procedural load.
ter steep reductions in 2007 for workhorse Additionally, it is important to evalu-
Take inventory scopes and 2007-2008 for specialty scopes, ate your inventory relative to its age. If
Maintaining an optimal scope inventory the number of endoscopes per procedure you hang onto a workhorse scope for
is fundamental to keeping repair expen- room has leveled off, as noted in the chart: too long, repair expenditures may start
ditures at a minimum. Monitor the size above* to climb while your technology edge
and age of your resource pool and appro- Benchmarking data from similar fa- plummets. Benchmark data comparison
priately balance your scope inventory cilities can help you evaluate your own between 2008 and 2009 shows that facili-
against your current and forecasted pro- scope mix, ensuring you get the most ties are extending the median age of all
cedural requirements. Do you have the mileage out of your capital equipment endoscopes as follows:*
right scopes to meet current and pre- budget. You can also look at the num-
dicted case-mix demand? Too many of ber and frequency of procedure start Proactively manage lab design
the wrong scopes can unnecessarily lock delays and cancellations resulting from There is much to be said for a well-orga-
up excessive capital; too few of even the unavailable equipment. This will pro- nized and effectively designed facility.
right scopes may delay procedures. This vide a good indicator of whether your The most efficient and cost-effective labs
See GI LABS on page 40
38 November 2009 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS www.hpnonline.com
0911-Scope Guide-shorrt.pmd 38 10/13/2009, 4:35 PM
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