SpineScan: A key to lean process management to improve quality and reduce costs

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This advertorial has been sponsored by B. Braun

Less is more–The increasing economic burden and complexity in hospital processes forces hospitals to map and improve their structures and processes and to increase the treatment quality and safety in patient care. The implementation of lean projects for overall increases of efficiency, as well as quality improvements and processes, seem to be a promising key factor. This is where the SpineScan, as an additional service concept with the Ennovate® spinal platform, comes in.

The lean tray management in general instruments and the Ennovate® spinal platform have economic impacts on the internal material management in and between the operating theatre and the sterile processing department as well as on all intra-operative and postoperative processes. Ennovate® is the spinal platform, based on ONE screw and ONE system for all pathologies with a lean modular instrument set and sterile packed implant line to streamline the sterile goods related processes and increase patient safety.

SpineScanEnnovate® solutions beyond fusion

Hospitals are facing similar economic challenges. Especially the operating theatre is of high importance relating to medical and economic topics as 60–70 % of the turnover of a hospital are earned in the operating theatre2. Considering that each operating minute creates costs of about €153, each delay of an operation should strictly be avoided. Furthermore, hygienic aspects, dissatisfaction of employees and the condition of the surgical goods4,5 have additional impact on the processes and costs in the operating theatre.

Economic challenges are often related to the increasing number and complexity of instrument systems used in the hospital that have considerable impact on logistics, handling, stock capacity and reprocessing costs.

A key to lean process management to improve quality and reduce costsBut how may hospitals detect hidden costs and optimization potentials in their daily workload, complexity of processes and systems?

This is where the SpineScan for thoracolumbar pedicle screw systems together with the Ennovate® spinal platform comes in. B.Braun has already been offering a wide range of service solutions since years to meet the exact and individual needs of a hospital.

The SpineScan provides a trend-setting economical decision base for clinical management, sterile processing departments and material managers. It creates total transparency on used and unused materials as instruments and pedicle screws, their set turn, the intra-operative process, logistic topics, analysis of the implant and instrument quality as well as the postoperative instrument management and the potentials to increase and optimise process efficiency, in using the Ennovate® spinal platform.

The keySterile goods data analysis

The key of the SpineScan is the analysis of sterile goods data from the instrument management system of sterile processing departments.

Sterile goods management system with TOM

Ease of use–For hospitals without digital and professional material management systems, B.Braun offers the tray organizing manager TOM for prospective process analysis. TOM is THE all new digital Tray Organizing Manager – an easy to install app-based platform solution designed to optimise the processes of any sterile processing department which is very easy to handle. Its definitely what your staff in sterile department will embrace.

A key to lean process management to improve quality and reduce costs with B.BraunFor general instruments the analysis gives transparency about the variety of instrument types, different suppliers, production data as well as potentials of reorganisation and standardisation to enhance efficiency and economy of material management.

The Sterile Goods Data Analysis for the thoraco-lumbar pedicle screw systems is an in-depth analysis of the set turn, number, frequency, peaks and usage patterns, their tray structure, the total number of trays and sets, setcodes, trays, inventory and turnover of items. It also puts the set turns and related efficiency rates of each set in relation to the performance per intervention.

It shows that one of the major cost drivers in the washing-, cleaning- and sterilization process are non-sterile packed implants. Which always means: using six screws in average but processing often more than 200 screws in the same rack.

Just an easy and quick win with the Ennovate® platform

A change to sterile packed screws can be a game changer:

  • 100% safe tracking
  • always ready to use implants
  • no cross-contamination
  • no risks with material questions after 100 or more process cycles.

Further modules of the SpineScan may also be:

  • Intra-operative scan
  • Logistic scan
  • Instrument quality scan
  • Post-operative instrument management scan

These modules show transparency in the usage rates of instrumentation in the operating theatre as well as possible savings in the time periods between the interventions. Logistic aspects such as current set-up of sterile stocks or case caddies are evaluated. Concerning the instrument quality scan, findings may be related to the quality of general instruments in a spot scan on site. It categorises the inventory according to instruments without findings and findings in surface, function or replacements. Also the post-operative instrument management scan analyses possible optimisation potential concerning cleaning, disinfection and sterilization including packing and training of personnel.

Solutions beyond fusion – with the Ennvoate® platform, the SpineScan gives transparency about the status of the hospital and shows optimization potentials for a trend-setting economical decision base. The change to a spinal platform like Ennovate® may have considerable optimization potential concerning costs, processes, employees’ satisfaction and treatment quality.

References

1. *Kaplan S, Sadler B, Little K, et al. Can sustainable hospitals help bend the health care cost curve? Issue Brief Commonwealth Fund pub. 1641. 2012 Nov; 29: 1-14
2. Travis Healey et al. Improving Operating Room Efficiency, Part 1; 2015
3. Wilfried von Eiff. Ganzheitliche Prozessoptimierung bei Knie-TEP-Prozeduren; 2015
4. OP Barometer, 2017
5. Hygieneradar, 2018


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