Optimization of Orthopedic Surgical Instrument Trays: Lean Principles to Reduce Fixed Operating Room Expenses
These authors in the Orthopedics department at UAB collected instrument usage on their most commonly used instrument trays and manually reviewed data to identify opportunities for the application of lean methodology to the tray contents.
They were able to reduce 55% of instruments from 11 unique tray types that they reviewed, resulting in a total of 3,520 instruments removed. There was a tray total weight reduction of 22% and there was a statistically significant decrease in the number of trays with wrapping holes.
These efforts resulted in a totalannual cost savings of $270,976, which equated to a 20% overall cost reduction.
They concluded:
“In addition to substantial cost savings, tray optimization decreases tray weights and cleaning times without negatively impacting turnover times. Lean methodology improves efficiency in instrument tray usage, and reduces hospital cost while encouraging surgeon and staff participation through continuous process improvement.”
This is another excellent example of the outcomes that are possible when efforts are pursued to make operating room processes more efficient. Now imagine having the ability to perform a similar process, powered by technology that was designed for facile collection of intraoperative data and real-time analytics to drive this type of change.
OpFlow enables you to accomplish this endeavor, extending across all service lines and yielding the same efficiency and cost reduction benefits in just 6 months, by virtue of our robust data analytics platform. This will become an increasingly high value opportunity for hospitals and ASCs as we transition into a post-COVID era in which there is even greater focus on reducing avoidable costs in healthcare.