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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 | J U N E 2 0 1 4
S T A F F S A T I S F A C T I O N
Automated instrument tracking improves clinical efficiencies and patient
safety, says Amy Bush, RN, BSN, MBA, CNOR, vice president of operations at
the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's McKeesport Hospital.
Linking instrument tracking to the electronic documentation of sterilization
cycles and instrument manufacturers' instructions for use takes some of the
human element out of reprocessing and lets you monitor instrument usage,
including how many times they've been cleaned and sterilized.
What happens if you need a specific instrument tray for a case? A tracking
system can tell you exactly where it's located, whether it's been pulled for
another procedure or if it's sitting in a different OR.
The technology also lets you keep tabs on the productivity of your reprocess-
ing department. How many individual instruments, peel packs and trays do they
handle? How many steam, low-temperature and ultrasonic cycles do they run?
What are the average cycle times? How long does it take after the time instru-
ments are received until they're ready for the OR? How many trays do specific
techs put together in a shift? How accurate are they in doing so? With instru-
ment tracking, you'd know and would be able to use the data to initiate quality
improvement projects aimed at upping staff performance.
— Daniel Cook
TRACKING TECHNOLOGY
Do You Know Where
Your Instruments Are?
EYES EVERYWHERE Tracking technology lets you keep tabs
on instrument maintenance and reprocessing performance.
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