As great as advances in surgical instrumentation are, the complexity of these devices can add to surgical risk and increase burden on operating room supply chain, according to a study published in Journal For Healthcare Quality.
To improve the quality and efficiency of OR instrument availability, researchers conducted a study to develop and validate a lean 5S approach. The approach consisted of the following five steps:
1. Sort. Determine which instruments are being used and which are being wasted for each procedure.
2. Simplify. Remove unnecessary instruments from supply orders if they are typically wasted.
3. Sweep. Check supplies to confirm the availability of needed instruments.
4. Standardize. Ensure all trays are the same for a given procedure.
5. Self-disciple. Monitor the approach's success.
Ultimately, the researchers found that by applying this five-step lean methodology to OR instrument supplies, they were able to reduce the number of instruments delivered to the OR for minimally invasive spine surgery by 70 percent and decrease the setup time for minimally invasive spine surgery by 37 percent. They also reduced unnecessary instrument deliveries and setup time for deep brain stimulator cases.
"We conclude that complex surgical procedures offer opportunities for substantial waste reduction, simplification and quality improvement, with potential institutional annual cost savings of $2.8 million," wrote the study authors. "We demonstrate that lean methodology can improve quality at lower cost."
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