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while the transitioning is happen- ing. This gives your staff time to adjust to the change, and gives a chance to go through inventory and decide if every tray is needed or can you dispose of some to give future trays a home.”
“If choosing the DSI shelving
unit, take into account the heavi- ness of your trays. Don’t store heavy trays on top of shelving,” McCarthy added. “Try to think about your employees and how tray size could affect them getting it safely. Think about your pick tickets and see if you get trays near each other so when picking cases, it would be quicker and more effi- cient for staff, especially in emergencies.”
Sealed Sterilization Container
UPMC test trial area before (left) and after (right) incorporating DSI shelving
Consider going modular and/or mobile Two options for those CS/SPD short on storage space are modu- lar or mobile instrument and supply storage units. For example, Ezell says Belintra’s UBeFlex modular storage system is uniquely designed to overcome challenges by providing extensive possi- bilities of configurations using various widths and a combination of shelving sizes to optimize available space. They also offer a full line of closed and open transport options for transporting sterile and non-sterile trays.
“Every space is different. For example, one of our customers in Texas was able to store 1,500 trays in 450 square feet,” he said. Belintra also offers mobile storage options to protect vendor trays during storage and transport. As Ezell explains, trays not utilized in the procedure can be wheeled back to the storage area or staged for pick up.
“Just as important as the product itself is the team who provides assessment and installation,” he said. “Our trained and certified installation team leverages their firsthand experience working in the SPD to set your team up for success. Our team can be contacted for a no charge, onsite assessment.”
as they struggle to find the correct tray,” he said. “This can bleed into the OR in the form of delay times or worst-case scenario, a rescheduled procedure. With the cost of an OR minute being estimated at between $22-$133 a minute, that is not something that any facility would want to incur. As you could imagine, this leads to additional staff and physician dissatisfaction.” “From the patient’s perspective, if the physician is having to use a tray of instruments that they are not familiar with because their regular set cannot be found or is compromised, it could potentially lead to a medical error. If the tray needed cannot be found, the procedure may be delayed or cancelled, which is less than ideal, especially in the case of an emergency,” Ezell said. When asked how a CS/SPD can overcome these challenges,
even leveraging its existing storage space, Ezell recommends they ask themselves the following questions/take the following steps: • Understand utilization: What is the growth plan for your facility? Will you be adding surgeons or specialties? If so, do you have enough space that is optimized to accommodate the number of trays needed?
• Determine an accurate instrument tray count: What are you using today and what are your planned future purchases? Be sure to account for the percentage of vendor trays that are in use. Are you considering adding vendor trays to consignment? Will they live at the facility full time or only be brought in at the time of procedure?
• Analyze and adapt workflow: Develop a workflow to mini- mize the number of touch points for each instrument tray. It is important to understand the flow between decontamination, sterilization, storage and transport to the OR and identify any opportunities in the process. The entire puzzle must be reviewed, not just a single piece.
The SMART-FOLD STERISYSTEM from HALYARD and BELINTRA
Questions to ask and steps toward success Poorly stored and organized instrument trays can result in a “snowball effect,” ultimately compromising patient safety and care,” Ezell explained. “If trays either don’t have a home, are poorly organized, labeled illegibly or are missing, this can impact staff time and satisfaction
• Maximize your footprint: Ezell says he has seen redesigns in which the CS/SPD was one of the first areas to be cut regard- ing space and they ended up with less room than expected. He notes that there are options to maximize dead space or the air space between each rack to store the number of trays needed. “It’s important to consult with experts with SPD experience who understand the potential pitfalls and can aid in construc- tion and design,” said Ezell. “Ideally, these experts are brought in to help before blueprints are even drafted to assess current workflow, and understand future goals and growth in order to best suggest space requirements moving forward.” HPN
Reference:
1. 2021 Hospital National Patient Safety Goals, The Joint Commission,
https://www.jointcommission. org/-/media/tjc/documents/standards/national-patient-safety-goals/2021/simplified-2021-hap- npsg-goals-final-11420.pdf
22 October 2021 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS •
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