In the main OR at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City, surgical instruments were consistently going missing, so a multidisciplinary team sought to pinpoint the source of the issue and correct it. The result...

Ensuring that reprocessed endoscopes are completely dry during storage remains an important patient safety topic in the world of endoscopy. Residual moisture in and around endoscopes promotes the growth...

Any patient arriving on the day of their surgery is going to be anxious. That anxiety will only grow, and their satisfaction will decline, if their surgery is delayed because of inefficient room turnover times. Getting ORs ready for the next case...

In March, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) updated ANSI/AAMI ST91:2021, its standard for the cleaning and storing of flexible endoscopes. The new guidance document — which addresses...

When grateful patients in Central Maine return home from St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston with a successful surgical outcome, the thank you cards they pen aren’t to the finance department. But maybe they should be....

Coastal Orthopedics in West Bradenton, Fla., recently opened an 88,000-square-foot headquarters that houses a 25,000-square-foot, six-OR ASC on the second floor with 25 pre- and post-op bays and six extended stay rooms....

The surgical services team at Ascension St. Vincent Mercy Hospital in Elwood, Ind., is well into year three without a single surgical site infection (SSI). That impressive run has earned its staff the 2022 OR Excellence Award for Infection Prevention....

Surgical instruments that are of poor quality or improperly maintained can fail during procedures, an alarming occurrence that jeopardizes outcomes...

Wrapping instruments in blue wrap might not be the best choice when your sterile processing department is responsible for turning around a high-volume of tools...

Throughout the course of a day, certain instruments require special attention or need to be fast-tracked through the reprocessing cycle and returned to the ORs as soon as possible. Attaching a green plastic placard...

My hospital’s sterile processing department is responsible for turning around 1,500 instrument trays a day. Our surgeons specialize in a variety of orthopedic procedures, including total joints and spine, so our reprocessing techs...

Endoscopic sinus surgery requires surgeons to maneuver mere millimeters from critical structures. They operate near the orbital lamina papyracea, and sometimes inside the orbit itself, and often use image guidance to help them move...

The technologies and solutions both available and in development for techs in today's sterile processing departments (SPDs) are becoming smarter, faster and more advanced...

Best practices in the high-level disinfection of flexible endoscopes must be prioritized after every one of the estimated 15 million colonoscopies performed each year in the U.S.,...

The proper cleaning and sterilization of microsurgical instruments is an essential part of safe patient care, but its importance can be overlooked by busy surgeons...

You cannot run a successful surgery center if your surgical instruments are dull, damaged or in desperate need of replacement. I work at an extremely busy orthopedic ASC with eight operating rooms that are full...

The attention to detail that’s required to properly care for the tools of surgery takes on even greater importance when microsurgical instrumentation is involved. Proper care and regular maintenance extend...

No sterile processing department (SPD) manager wants to add another step to the complex and strategically redundant process of sterilizing surgical instruments....

There are between 75 and 100 intricate steps involved in the proper reprocessing of flexible endoscopes. That means there are countless opportunities for staff to miss critical steps...

Zero is always the goal. Our surgery center works tirelessly on multiple fronts to ensure no patient walks away from an elective procedure with a surgical site infection (SSI). Of course, hitting that elusive benchmark is always...