Data analysis of vascular surgery instrument trays yield large cost and efficiency savings

Surgical procedures account for 50% of hospital revenue and approximately 60% of operating costs. On average, less than 20% of surgical instruments are used during a case, and the expense for re-sterilization and assembly of instrument trays ranges from $0.51-3.01 per instrument. Given the complexity of the surgical service supply chain, physician preferences, and variation of procedures, reduction of surgical cost is extremely difficult and often ill-defined. A data driven approach to instrument tray optimization has implications for efficiency and cost savings in sterile processing, including reduction in tray assembly time and instrument repurchase, repair, and avoidable depreciation.
Source: Journal of Vascular Surgery - Category: Surgery Authors: Source Type: research