Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers

Unsung Heroes - Outpatient Surgery Magazine - November 2019

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/1183526

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 33 of 146

country. "The real problem is that there is not a national standard with respect to post-secondary education," says Dr. Nichol. "Reprocessing techs need advanced training in subjects like chemistry, informatics, instrument identification, infection control and waste disposal. The reason there is no standard curriculum is because people don't get paid much to do the job. Why would deans of colleges start a program for professionals who are making $15 an hour? How will they pay for their education? "Developing education and solving the salary issue will be critical to where we need to go," he says. Grassroot gains Those are big solutions to a layered and complex problem, but you can make a difference in your facility by spending time in the ster- ile processing department and finding solutions within your own space. • Assess the process. Analyze every aspect of the reprocessing cycle, looking for obvious signs of waste, over-production and wasted move- ments. Gather everyone involved in the process, from surgeons to repro- cessing techs, because each of them thinks they know exactly what everybody else is doing, but can't know for certain until they all look at the flow of instruments together. Sit in a room with sticky notes or a whiteboard and literally note each step of the process, however seem- ingly small you think an aspect might be. Ask everyone in the room to describe exactly what they do and what part of the process they own. "It never ceases to amaze me what happens when you get all of these people in the same room and start visually assessing the process," says Rachel Mandel, MD, MHA, an independent healthcare consultant based in Washington, D.C. "People look at each other and 3 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 • N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers - Unsung Heroes - Outpatient Surgery Magazine - November 2019