STRATEGIC SOURCING & LOGISTICSSTRATEGIC SOURCING & LOGISTICS


What are the top challenges vexing the OR and surgical suites?


They span Supply Chain, Sterile Processing, Infection Prevention, IT, Environmental Services


by Rick Dana Barlow ID 251768012 ©


Akarawut Lohacharoenvanich Dreamstime.com


W


hen determining the top challenges in the operating room or surgi- cal suite, you might point to the


cost of labor or the acquisition and ongoing maintenance of expensive high-tech equip- ment. You’d likely be right for a number of healthcare organizations.


Others might refer to surgical complica- tions or post-operative infections or even recording and maintaining the mountains of information either on computer or on paper. You’d likely be right again for many other healthcare organizations. As a result, Healthcare Purchasing News sought to corral the options and focus on day-to-day administrative, clinical and support service operations as related to supply chain and the expansive array of services overseen by that department. HPN specifi ed more than 25 options and reached out to more than a dozen executives at clinical and operational product and service companies to gauge their insights on the overarching marketplace. HPN encouraged experts to select as many as they believe apply based on what they observe among provider organizations and further invited them to list and rank their top fi ve choices to tackle right away.


While individual responses and rankings may have run the gamut, the overall top six remained consistent across the board as all but two selections earned at least one vote with the top choice near unanimous. HPN lists the top 24 below in order of their ranking tallies. If more than one generated


the same number of votes the choices were listed alphabetically.


What irks ORs the most? Inventory man- agement issues. 1. Restocking and inventory access remains problematic such that circulating nurses scramble to obtain what surgeons need – sometimes during procedures.


2. Turnover time remains too long due to OR set-up and stocking.


3. Inability to track product consumption/ usage patterns for billing, budgeting, economic service line evaluation, etc.


4. Ineffective, poor or no relationship with Supply Chain to help with prod- uct evaluations, contracting, supplier relations, etc.


5. Bad/erroneous data and/or lack of product data standards cause/contrib- ute to decision-making problems.


6. Physician preference items add to inven- tory and procedural costs.


7. Devices, instruments break down/mal- function due to improper maintenance, repair, service.


8. Lack of integration, if not intercon- nectivity or interoperability, between electronic imaging, surgical and patient information components.


9. The surgical suite remains a hotbed and magnet for healthcare-acquired infec- tions – including superbugs – that may be linked to improperly reprocessed devices and instruments.


10. Product recalls cause delays due to lack of preparation.


8 December 2022 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • hpnonline.com


11. Turnover time remains too long due to cleaning, disinfecting and sterilizing room post-procedure.


12. Too much clutter on floor, such as equipment, power cords, storage and tools in too small a space as square foot- age remains lacking.


13. Based on material composition, fl oors and walls easily attract dirt, dust, grime and other infectious organisms that compromise sterility.


14. Electronic access to real-time patient imaging and other health information lacking or simply unavailable.


15. Lack of using wall space effectively and effi ciently beyond plug-ins to outlets – either for imaging, storage or work- space equipment.


16. Surgeon demands, personalities confl ict with each other and nurses.


17. Floors and walls may be cleaned and disinfected with mops, wipes and other products that are not changed with each room, thereby transferring and/ or failing to kill infectious organisms from room to room.


18. Manufacturer/vendor product/sales rep and other third-party access to OR for device/instrument coaching and “patient safety” may be distracting.


19. Nursing demands, personalities confl ict with each other.


20. The operating table is manual and outdated, making it difficult to maneuver or simply unstable for the patient and staff.


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