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Tuesday May1, 2012
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Expo
One glance into the sprawling Expo space and it became clear that IAHCSMM has grown to the point where a full-blown convention center is needed. And the Expo is the Albuquerque Convention Center certainly did a terrific job of comfortably housing hundreds of vendors and attendees (and some increasingly elaborate and eye-catching booths and demonstrations).
Attendees eagerly set their sights on the latest and greatest products and services, and spoke with and learned from some of the greatest, more prominent and well-respected vendor experts in the industry. In addition to the 181 exhibit booths, attendees were also treated to a hearty selection of Vendor Learning Annexes (11 in all), which allowed them to get direct education in private rooms right on the expo floor.
Vendor repair and education vehicles displays were also available, bringing attendees and vendor experts together for hands-on education or demonstrations of the instrument repair process. Educational poster presentations were another Expo perk, allowing attendees to review and explore a broad range of topics and success stories related to the profession.
Aside from networking, exploration and an energy-boosting boxed lunch provided by 3M, attendees were also treated to the Balloon Race Raffle. Participants visited as many vendor booths as possible, acquiring stickers that were traded in for a raffle ticket – and the chance to win one of many valuable vendor-donated prizes. The grand prize winner, Genan Holder-borga, won airfare, hotel and registration for the San Diego 2013 Annual Conference & Expo!
Educational Sessions
Three more educational sessions were presented in the afternoon:
- Preventive verses Reactive Maintenance: A Case Study
- What is Steam Quality and Why Does it Matter?
- Around the World in 80 Slides; Focus on CSSD
Here is a write-up on one of those sessions:
Preventive Versus Reactive Maintenance: A Case Study
Surgical instruments and equipment are critical components of patient safety, positive outcomes and good customer service. Unfortunately, devices often don’t get the attention they deserve – and the consequences can be, at best, frustrating for the surgeon, and, at worst, devastating for the patient.
Instruments in need of sharpening, for example, can tear skin, while also increasing the risk for additional damage to the device. Instruments that can’t be taken apart and easily cleaned can harbor bone, blood and other bioburden that makes it difficult for a surgeon to operate the device properly (and, even more importantly, can contribute to hospital-acquired infections). Keeping instruments in tip-top shape requires a proactive approach – one that addresses issues before they become a liability.
“When you get items back from the OR with a repair tag, it’s already too late. Something has gone wrong,” said Rick Costello, MBA, CCSVP, president and chief operating officer of Spectrum Surgical Instruments Corp. While repair tags are necessary, he stressed that relying on this type of reactive approach is neither prudent nor cost-effective. He also explained that it’s not enough to just send out broken devices without practicing due diligence and embracing quality processes to ensure that the broken or otherwise malfunctioning device isn’t subjected to the same damage in the future.
“Any time a tagged instrument comes down from the OR, write it down in a log – the doctor’s name, the problem -- and see if it’s a ‘self-inflicted wound,’ something that was done to cause the damage that could have been avoided,” he noted. “Diagnose what happened and take corrective action to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Costello also shared some enlightening data from two 50-hospital studies: one where preventive maintenance was followed according to tray rotation; the other, based on time. For nearly 7,500 trays (across nine major services) that underwent tray rotations, the average number of uses before being sent out for preventive maintenance was 48. For the time-based study that assessed 13,000 trays and 400,000 instruments (across 21 different specialties), most services in the hospitals only performed preventive maintenance two to three times a year (and some hospitals were even fewer than that).
Education and communication plays an important role in the quality improvement process, he explained, and repair companies and device manufacturers can and should play a key role.
“Whoever is doing the preventive maintenance on your instruments needs to communicate what they’re doing and what they’re finding, in as much detail as possible, so you can find the right solutions,” Costello reasoned, adding that CSSD and OR professionals also benefit from ongoing education on care and handling of instrumentation. This education can be found in the Certified Instrument Specialist (CIS) textbook, among other resources.
While some facilities may be reluctant to engage in proactive preventive maintenance, there’s plenty of data to show that spending a small amount on the front end is far better on the budget than enduring big repairs and premature replacement on the backend. Just a cataract set alone will cost $2,495 new, whereas a completely restored set will run about $225 – less than 10% the cost of replacement. Even more savings can be seen on more complex sets.
Preventive maintenance is important for all instruments, but it makes good sense for facilities to put the most time, effort and money into their most valuable equipment. “This is a good place to start,” Costello said.