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O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | M AY 2 0 1 4
day: 3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. Some get double rooms,
depending on their speed and their caseload. Stay on top of your sur-
geons. Make sure they deliver the patients they promised you. We
watch over our block schedule like a hawk, monitoring it daily, week-
ly and monthly. If a surgeon told you he'd have 10 cases next Tuesday
but he only has 6, adjust your staffing accordingly and condense the
schedule. Per-diem nurses give you staffing flexibility, but a 2-hour
void between the morning and afternoon schedule can kill your profit
margin.
4. Stock up on supplies. Nothing can grind your day to a halt
like having to postpone a case because you don't have enough instru-
ments. Never delay a surgery because you don't have the needed
instrumentation ready. We're well stocked with both top-notch oph-
thalmic instruments and 4 autoclaves. We do wrap loads at the end of
the night so that everything's prepared for the next morning's cases.
It helps that we're a single-specialty facility. We don't have to worry
about mixing instruments during reprocessing. For example, you
can't mix eye instruments in a GI bath. It also helps that we have a
certified reprocessing staff. We avoid immediate-use sterilization
(flashing) at all costs. That meant we had to purchase additional
instrumentation to accommodate longer reprocessing times necessi-
tated by a full cycle of steam sterilization plus drying time. But we
looked at that expense — and that of the purchase of the closed
steam sterilization trays — as an investment that helps cement our
leadership position.
5. Partner with vendors. Think of your vendors as your
business partners. If you treat them right — meaning, if you're a
good customer and you pay in full and on time — and negotiate
O P H T H A L M O L O G Y
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