SPECIAL FOCUS


successfully taken on sterilizing instruments for another KentuckyOne facility, Saints Mary and Elizabeth Hospital, during their recent Sterile Processing renovation project, so the potential for optimization and efficiency will greatly improve with the new Sterile Processing department at Jewish Hospital.” Yet acquisitions, mergers and even “inte- gration” tend to conjure up layoff fears and departmental downsizing.


Not for Jewish or even University of Louisville’s SPD team, Balch assured. “The goal for most multi-site to single-site


processing centers follows the 80/20 rule, with 80 percent of instrumentation processed at the integrated ‘hub,’ and 20 percent of critical instrumentation kept on-site and processed in the department’s satellite center,” Balch told HPN. “Although workload will be reallocated


Jewish Hospital SPD staff


Department Manager: Robert Parker, CRCST, CIS, CHL System Director: Weston “Hank” Balch, CRCST, CIS, CHL Former System Director of Sterile Processing: Karen Owens, RN, MSN, CRCST, CIS, CHL, FCS 1st Shift Supervisor: Yourney Castillo, CRCST, CIS, CHL 2nd Shift Supervisor: Ross Crump, CRCST, CIS, CHL 3rd Shift Supervisor: Bruce Pawley, CRCST Instrument Coordinator: John Rowe, CRCST, CIS, CHL OR Liaison: Joel Benge, CRCST, CIS, CHL Quality Assurance Tech: Shirley Raque, CRCST, CIS, CHL


Staff: Miles Brinley, CRCST Onur Tekin, CRCST Odessa Macklin, CRCST Chris Coupland, CRCST Bekira Mehmedovic, CRCST, CIS Irvin Francis Kyle III, CRCST, CIS, CHL Stephen Morris, CRCST Kelsey Frederick Jennifer Hay-Fernandez, CRCST Junior Peralta-Pena, CRCST Luis Barsallo, CRCST Arlene Scisney, CRCST, CIS, CHL Yasmin Tumbarell Arguelles, CRCST Brittani Humphrey, CRCST Tyler Hayden, CRCST Daniel Gnagy, CRCST Korpo Cooper Milka Nenadovic Elma Mustic, CRCST Abigail Henderson Erendira Zuniga Patricia Richardson, CRCST Derrick Daniels, CRCST David McBath Laura Machado, CRCST Joseph Thomas


and streamlined under this integrated model, there will be additional logistical staffing related to packaging, transport and data man- agement that would ensure no positions are on the line. There is also a long-term vision to move our instrument repair program in-house, which would provide additional opportunity to our team for career advancement.” Parker identified several strategies and tactics necessary for successful integration. “First, our staff needs to be competent to work at both locations,” he stated. “We have already begun doing some cross-training between hospitals, and it is becoming part of our orientation process for new employees to spend a couple weeks at the other facility. Second, our processes need to be aligned. Both hospitals are looking at their processes to make sure they are both AAMI compliant and match as closely as possible with each other.” The third and greatest challenge, Parker continued, is the standardization and optimi- zation of instrument sets. “From a processing standpoint, the instrument trays would be much easier for technicians to process if the most commonly used trays were identical at both facilities,” he indicated. “Additionally, surgeons who work at both campuses would benefit from having the exact same instrument setup during procedures.” Jewish’s SPD recruited Aesculap’s Sur- gical Asset Management team with their “CliniFiscal Model” to facilitate optimization meetings between service line specialists and surgeons at each hospital for standardizing instrument trays, he said. They also work with Materials Management Microsystems’ SPM team for data management and device tracking and are formulating loaner manage- ment, labor management and supplier-SPD relations with such companies as CaseChek and ReadySet Surgical, he added. “With the integration of the two campuses, the Sterile Processing Departments would have the ability to float staff between cam- puses depending upon surgical schedules, vacations and callouts, and staffing shortages


26.9


without the use of travelling agency staff or high overtime rates,” Parker noted. “Surgeons would find it easier to work at both facilities because of the uniformity of surgical instru- ments, and so the two KentuckyOne facilities would have greater capacity and flexibility for scheduling cases. Finally, the campuses could more effectively utilize their instrument as- sets, since they could be used at either facility when needed.”


Process-driven quality


To achieve such a seemingly lofty goal, Jewish’s SPD team had to achieve another lofty goal: producing the “highest-quality sterile goods possible,” according to Parker. “Our goal is for there to never be an instru-


ment set returned because of a defect,” he said. “Achieving perfect quality is a struggle, however, because we are human beings prone to error. No matter how much education, training, and resources a person is given, they will still make mistakes.”


So Parker and his group strove to “cre-


ate processes that are workflow conducive and make it impossible — or at least dif- ficult — to make an error.” For an example of a “tweaked” process, visit www.hpnonline.com/ inside/2016-05/1605-SF-LiveLinks.html and click on the “Rigid container redress” live link. To achieve unity within the department


before unification with any other departments, Balch, his predecessor Karen Owens, RN, MSN, CRCST, CIS, CHL, FCS, and Parker had to build the team and empower each staffer to accept additional responsibility to help one an- other versus claim something “isn’t my job.” To promote teamwork and avoid a segmented staff specialized in one particular area, they rotate responsibilities. The OR Liaison, who reports to Parker, remains constant as the dedicated channel between the two depart- ments. For more on Joel Benge, CRCST, CIS, CHL, SPD’s OR Liaison, visit www.hpnonline. com/inside/2016-05/1605-SF-sidebar1.html. Jewish SPD responsibilities include four primary assignments: Decontamination, Prep


Fast Facts on Jewish Hospital’s SPD team SPD FTEs


Acute care facilities serviced Nonacute care facilities serviced OR suites*


Total annual patient volume* Emergency department volume*


Number of sets/trays assembled/ processed


Error rates


Inventory line items *FY15 Data


12 May 2016 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • hpnonline.com


1 0


22


129,914 84,445


Annual Performance and Production 2013 Number of surgical cases*


15,303 123,914


0.34% n/a


% FTEs certified 78% (Will be 100% after new employees com- plete certification within 1 year)


Inpatient volume* Baby deliveries Surgical cases*


Outpatient procedures*


2014 15,044 122,243


0.18% 1,819


2015 13,277 131,334


0.22% 2,156


16,488 0


13,277 113,466


2016 to date 8,869


28,490


0.15% 2,191


Page 14


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