Gulf Breeze, Fla.-based Andrews Institute ASC, recorded a 100 percent decrease in immediate-use sterilization episodes after implementing a program to eliminate flash sterilization practices, according to Relias Media.
Andrews Institute ASC is within the network of Gulf Breeze-based Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, which renowned orthopedic surgeon James Andrews, MD, is a founding partner of.
Here are five insights:
1. IUSS practices per year at the ASC were as follows:
• 2013 – more than 2,400
• 2016 – 131
• 2017 – 1
• 2018 – 0
2. In order to decrease IUSS episodes, the ASC staff used daily huddles to plan future surgery caseload, adjusted schedules in the sterile processing department and fostered a new mentality among surgeons to better handle dropped instruments.
3. Andrews Institute ASC Purchasing and Sterile Processing Department Manager Danny Dillard said he re-structured sterile processing staff member's roles so that one staff member during each surgery's sole focus is to avoid IUSS.
4. Mr. Dillard also credits the ASC's communication with surgeons as a supporting factor to the IUSS decrease, specifically changing the perception that surgeons are angry when an instrument is dropped, causing wait for the 15- to 17-minute maximum processing time.
5. To streamline the IUSS reduction process, Mr. Dillard and his team worked with surgeons to create physician preference cards to ensure accuracy for every type of surgery performed.