can alert you to which
instruments go missing
most often and when
these issues occur
most frequently as well
as which specialties or
service lines are caus-
ing the most problems.
With this info at your
fingertips, it's much
easier to create QI
process improvements,
says Mr. DeLuca.
• Staff more effec-
tively. Tracking sys-
tems not only tell SPD
leaders exactly how
long it's taking staff to reprocess instrument trays, these systems also
highlight the specific times in which your SPD is working at capacity
and uncover staffing inefficiencies. For instance, a report showed Mr.
DeLuca that evening and night shifts were reprocessing more instru-
ments than day shifts. That info allowed him to react immediately.
"Based on the report, I added staff during these busier times to
remove the bottlenecks," says Mr. DeLuca.
Several other advancements are helping surgeons in the OR.
Combination technologies that overlay MRI or CT scans on surgical
video displays provide real-time feedback of the case's progress and
next steps, points out Dr. Lanzafame.
Dr. Lanzafame says image-guided systems superimpose virtual ver-
sions of the optimal surgical pathway over the main video image sur-
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 7 5
• ON LOCATION Instrument-tracking platforms provide the real-time data needed
to identify and address bottlenecks in sterile processing departments.
