Team overhauls process to reduce errors
Being accurate 98.9 percent of the time sounds pretty great.
Nearly perfect, in fact, but the Central Sterile Processing department at the West Los Angeles Medical Center sterilizes almost 4,000 trays a month. So even a small percentage has a big effect.
Incorrect trays disturb operating room efficiency. When a nurse or tech has to track down the correct instruments for a surgery, it slows down the OR and increases wait time for patients and their families.
In some cases, inaccurate trays cause surgeries to be rescheduled.
That disrupts patients, who’ve arrived physically and psychologically prepared for an operation, and family members, who juggled their schedules.
It also frustrates doctors and employees. And since many departments are involved in surgeries, the disruptions caused by inaccurate trays creates friction among departments and colleagues.
So, when the UBT brought managers and employees together to review and analyze the department’s data, they had some serious work to do. But the group was able to find errors, spot efficiencies and rearrange workflows.
“The improvement was, in a word, remarkable,” says Marco Bautista, manager, Central Processing.
They worked with vendors to provide pictures of instrument trays and individual instruments to improve the inspection process. They put heavy trays in special sturdy containers to avoid puncturing protective sterile wrapping, and used a buddy system to audit instruments.
The team involved lead techs in daily quality assurance checks on surgery trays, and posted tray accuracy reports and other metrics in the employee break room.
They also held weekly meetings with operating room department administrators, and allowed employees to observe surgical procedures. That helped their understanding of the importance of tray quality and accuracy.
The team hit 99.8 percent a month.
The changes also increased confidence among staff, and created a better working relationship between the Central Processing department and its internal clients.
“We are treated with respect by our peers and others in the hospital,” Bautista says. “The overall image of the department has improved.”