Challenge As a hospital that performs over 300 complex surgical cases every month, the Sterile Processing Department faced several issues managing its case load: Lack of Digital Tracking: The Sterile Processing Department was tracking loaner trays with a pen and paper process that was driven by the vendor representatives. The process lacked consistent protocols which…
Challenge As a leading Children’s Hospital that performs many complex surgical cases each week, several inventory challenges existed including: Limited Bandwidth: With an average of 4.8 trays per case, the Sterile Processing Department spent an enormous amount of dedicated time to printing labels, manually labeling trays, and developing their own nomenclature for specific items. Without…
Last week, System Director of Sterile Processing at UCSF Medical Center Michael Weissman shared expert knowledge about the causes and impacts of OR delays on hospitals, staff and patients. He also discussed mitigation strategies and how using ReadySet Surgical will help put your hospital in a position to address these challenges head on. Watch the…
Maintaining surgical inventory can be complicated and disorganized, but it doesn’t have to be. ReadySet Surgical is a surgical vendor inventory tracking software. The cloud-based system tracks inventory in real time, allowing hospitals to better manage their inventory supply while saving time and money. The goal is to bridge the communication gap between vendors and…
Weston “Hank” Balch Senior Principal Consultant Beyond Clean Consulting Preparing to pass accreditation surveys for your Sterile Processing department is never an easy feat. Even though surpassing the standards of infection control and safety is our constant goal — regardless if there are surveyors on-site or not — there is something really stressful and anxiety-producing…
SPD and Supply Chain – Aligned at Last? ReadySet Surgical Staff Writers For most matters, there is an inherent conflict between the Sterile Processing Department (SPD) management and hospital Supply Chain management. Fairly or unfairly, Supply Chain is often branded as the people who say, ‘no’ to requests. Plenty of stories exist about SPD professionals doing…
By Weston “Hank” Balch, BS, MDiv, CRCST, CER, CIS, CHL In recent years there has been a lot of buzz related to the various sterilization packaging methods now on the market, from disposable blue wrap, to traditional rigid containers, and the ONE TRAY sterilization system. Along with the buzz, we’ve seen white papers, marketing campaigns,…
By Rose Seavey, MBA, BS, RN, CNOR, CRCST, CSPDT Technological advancements in the healthcare field are critically important, as they can both lengthen and improve quality of life. Despite the potentially significant benefits of implementing new advancements immediately, healthcare facilities often delay implementation as they await updated standards and subsequently manufacturer’s Instructions for Use (IFUs)…
Weston “Hank” Balch, BS, MDiv, CRCST, CIS, CHL Director of Sterile Processing University Health System, TX It’s printed out and tacked to my office bulletin board, with the exact words that I wanted to remember — highlighted in neon green. And it’s not some deep, encouraging quote overlaying a picture of a peaceful mountain sunrise.…
Michael Matthews, MBA, CRCST, CIS, CHL Manager, Sterile Processing/OR Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway, AR Few things strike fear into the hearts of sterile processing staff quite like holes in wrapped items. Holes in wraps seem to appear without discrimination and always at the most inconvenient time possible. To make matters worse, the most critical instrument…