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standard works and best practices were not prepared for and trained by SP profession- als ahead of time. However, because the process (professional cadence) was already put in place, the SP tech can effectively move through the heightened and fast-paced situ- ation and reach the required outcome. This success is much to the expectation of the perioperative team and to the necessity of the add-on patient.


Why Plan?


It is important to acknowledge that the role of an SP Manager is to efficiently navigate the team to achieve the facility’s overall vision and mission through the operations and organization of the department.6


This is


done through a number of different ways: • Motivating and growing team members • Hiring and staffing quality professionals • Conducting performance assessments • Addressing conflict and provid- ing resolutions


While these are critical job responsibili- ties, this is only a fraction of the roles and influence an SP manager must have on the department. They must incorporate these responsibilities into the daily operations and duties of a functioning department. As we all know, Sterile Processing is not an inde- pendent department. The collaboration of the multiple departments’ contributors is required so that the demand and respon- sibilities expected of an SP department are met. By incorporating the goals of partner- ing departments into their own expertise on what must occur in their department in order to achieve the desired outcome, SP managers can demonstrate overall process contribution and success.


Anatomy of Planning


This is where an effective leadership plan- ning session can make the SP manager’s ability to perform significantly better and easier. While all perioperative professionals are acquainted with the ability to forecast the needs of surgery, this same principle is applied to planning for future prospects, goals, and emergencies that are key to over- all department success. Simply put, planning is purposeful thinking before the action takes place.6


The logical thinking and rational deci- sion-making of a planning session affords SP leadership the time to consciously choose the purpose of a process, the outcome of a goal, and how to go about achieving such things concisely and purposely. The length of planning sessions can be as short or as long as needed to determine the goals or outcomes associated with their pur- pose. Regardless of the purpose, all planning sessions consist of these key components: 1. Stakeholders


2. Key process indicators 3. Quick-wins and long-term goals of strategic plans.


Stakeholders are the individuals that may have an interest in the success or failure of a business, project, or group. They are typi- cally linked to the planning session in ques- tion on a variety of levels determined by the amount of impact they could potentially derive based on the outcomes or reasons for the planning sessions. Primary stakeholders stand to be directly affected, while secondary stakeholders will be indirectly affected by the planning session. Key stakeholders can belong to both or neither of these aforemen- tioned groups, however they have the ability to directly impact the efforts and outcomes of the group (positively or negatively). One of the biggest obstacles that SP leaders face is the ability to relay the information necessary to help these participants understand why they should have an interest in the session’s goals. Another obstacle is that the leaders must be able to demonstrate how key stake- holders stand to benefit from their interest in the session’s outcome.7 Key process indicators are what keep people interested. KPIs are used to measure the outcomes of processes. It is important that they are quantifiable so as to reflect the overall effectiveness of the process. This can be achieved through data collec- tion, ongoing metric logging, and/or other dashboard tools. More often than not, KPIs are created in an attempt to guide a depart- ment or group of professionals towards an organization’s defined outcomes. They are a key factor in “how well” a department is performing or not.8


To be strategic is to be designed and planned to serve a purpose. When a plan- ning session incorporates a strategy into their design, it provides the foundation for initiatives that work towards a more focused and specific outcome intended by the organization. In these planning sessions, the initiatives that are created will speak specifically to the KPIs and stakeholders of the organization. SP initiatives are reinforced or implemented through their quality assur- ance (QA) programs and maintained by their quality management systems (QMS). The clearer the initiative is, the more the QA and QMS can be assessed, updated, and/ or bolstered to help support the goals in place. Goals can be categorized into quick- wins or long-term initiatives. Quick-wins are just that: initiatives that create immediate successful outcomes that contribute to the major purpose defined by the planning ses- sion. These are used to boost morale, garner momentum, and demonstrate the ability of the team to uncertain stakeholders. Long- term initiatives are outcomes that will take


SELF-STUDY SERIES


a length of time to implement, monitor, and maintain before consistency and sustained success are demonstrated.


From Overwhelmed to Under Control


Let us outline a planning session based on the key points listed above. This is a simu- lated session between SP professionals discussing the issue only after it has been brought to leadership’s attention. The concern: Missing instruments are causing room delays.


Identify the stakeholders on every level and what their needs are. •Primary stakeholders: OR staff that is impacted: nurses, surgical techs, etc. •Secondary stakeholders: the patient, unbe- knownst to them, is affected by this delay. •Key stakeholders: OR leadership voicing the concern to SP leadership and surgeons that may be pressuring them to do so.


Determine what KPIs are in place or need to be created in order to demonstrate change, growth, consistency, or acknowl- edgement of change in this matter. •Tracking system or paper documents that indicate missing instruments from setlists, missing instruments from case carts, current inventory (par level) of instrumentation.


•Frequency of instruments requested: day/ time/surgeon requesting said items. •Current staffing models and levels, depart- ment assignment schedule, training and standard works in place regarding priori- tizing inventory.


Strategic Goal: To increase the availability of instruments that are contributing to surgical case room delay. •Initiative: Determine the reason why instru- ments are not available for surgical cases.


•Plan: ° Determine trends in request times, sur- gical case order, and surgeon prefer- ence (long-term)


° Utilize tracking system data to deter- mine if loaners or temporary sets need to be requested to supplement inven- tory (quick-win)


° Analyze costs to create/supple- ment existing sets to accommodate requests (long-term)


° Assess staffing structure to determine possible correlations between instru- ment availability and department pro- ductivity (long-term)


° Evaluate instrument turnover process and streamline awareness and alert- ness to expedite reprocessing effi- ciency (quick-win)


hpnonline.com • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • October 2023 39


Self-Study Test Answers: 1. B, 2. A, 3. D, 4. C, 5. A, 6. D, 7. A, 8. B, 9. A, 10. A


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