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The Sterile Processing Department (SPD) is integral to a healthcare facility. Staffing shortages and improperly sterilized surgical instruments can ultimately have a negative impact on the Operating Room (OR) and on patient outcomes. With a dedicated team of full-time Professional Services Consultants, our team is uniquely positioned to address all challenges facing the SPD environment.
With quality improvement at the forefront of healthcare professionals’ minds, our team of clinical and lean experts works with your healthcare facility to provide onsite assessments to address SPD operational and leadership needs. Our solutions are customized to your facility's areas of need now and in the future. STERIS works with Customers to investigate and evaluate process improvement options to ensure healthcare facilities meet or exceed their goals and clinical and regulatory compliance. Some of our services include:
20+
Years of experience in providing consulting and performance improvement
A comprehensive partner that can help support your healthcare facility
79%
Reduction in missing surgical instruments*
*Data was pulled from an internal survey conducted with existing STERIS Customers.
STERIS’ comprehensive sterile processing and high-level disinfection (HLD) assessments can provide strategic and operational recommendations to improve clinical compliance, quality outcomes, management systems, and the financial performance of your SPD. Our full suite of customizable assessments and studies include:
Our experienced specialists will evaluate any gaps in your sterile processing operations and STERIS can provide you with consulting, education, and interim staffing to improve your department's operations and performance. STERIS has forged close partnerships with hospitals and healthcare networks to create effective and efficient SPD operations. Customers gain knowledge and paths to efficiency from the experience of our team and the years STERIS Professional Services has spent in the field.
Task | Baseline Metric | Current Metric | Variance % | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Decontamination - Cleaning time per tray | 17.8 Mins/Tray | 7.2 Mins/Tray | 59.5% | Reduced the amount of time to clean an estimated 100,000 trays annually. |
Assembly - Assembling instrument trays | 28.2 Mins/Tray | 15.3 Mins/Tray | 45.7% | Reduced the amount of time to assemble surgical instrument sets, estimated 100,000 trays annually. |
WIP - Backlog of unprocessed trays at 7 AM | 600 Trays | 70 Trays | 88.3% | Amount of surgical instrument sets not processed before the next surgical day begins. |
Missing Instruments from Surgical sets | 3000 instruments | 150 instruments | 95% | Amount of surgical instruments missing out of assembled surgical trays within the entire inventory. |
Case Cart Readiness | 72% Case Cart Complete | 95% Case Cart Complete | 23% | The number of case carts is 100% complete at 7 AM surgical start times. |
The SPD is an essential part of a healthcare facility. Our team has invested heavily in the people and processes needed to address SPD's current and future challenges while planning for growth and regulatory compliance. Using data and benchmarking, we resolve the misaligned priorities of multiple stakeholders to ensure that your hospital’s plans result in successful outcomes. Our performance improvements include:
The overall quality of the SPD directly impacts patient safety. As standards and regulations evolve, your department must adapt to ensure compliance with governing bodies. Our team will evaluate current processes with clinical guidelines and identify gaps and opportunities to ensure your SPD conforms with industry best practices. Our services are based on industry guidelines and regulations such as AAMI ST79, clinical requirements such as manufacturer instructions for use, and specific Customer requirements. Our services include:
Standard | EP Code | Risk Matrix | Explanation | Consultant Observations | General Recommendations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
EC.01.01.01 | 1 | No Impact/ Widespread |
The hospital plans activities to minimize risks in the environment of care. | The facility has been without a manager and 1 or 3 supervisors for more than a year. Personnel could not provide. | |
EC.02.05.01 | 9 | Medium Impact/ Pattern |
The organization manages risks associated with its utility systems. | No process documentation was provided to surveyors, and/or zero staff was able to articulate the process. | |
EC.02.05.01 | 15 | High Impact/ Widespread |
The organization manages risks associated with its utility systems. | Biomed was called and provided action plans that have been developed. Long-term plans to update handlers. | |
EC.01.01.01 | 1 | Medium Impact/ Limited |
The hospital plans activities to minimize risks in the environment of care. | The facility has been without a manager and 1 of 3 supervisors for more than a year. Personnel could not provide. | The facility has contracted with an outside agency to provide leadership and prioritize out of compliance documentation ASAP. |
We offer a wide range of solutions and products to address your sterile processing and reprocessing needs. From steam sterilizers to offsite reprocessing centers, increase your SPD productivity and enhance patient safety.
Contact us today and learn how we can help!