Becker's ASC Review

41 EXECUTIVE BRIEFING 2 EXECUTIVE BRIEFING EXECUTIVE BRIEFING Increasing effi ciency by reducing trays Innovative Sterilization Technologies (IST) helps ASCs improve effi ciency in two ways. EZ-TRAX ™ enables ASCs to reconfi gure their instrumentation into far fewer trays, which saves time in processing and readying instruments, and decreases an ASC's costs. Mr. Kemp notes that their process effi ciency is approximately 2 hours faster and lowers cost by reducing the number of trays used. He outlined that an ASC spends about $75 per tray in processing costs. In one example, an ASC worked with a vendor that provided 15 trays for each knee replacement procedure. By using EZ-TRAX ™ this ASC was able to consolidate its instrumentation for this procedure to just four trays. While there are other similar examples, on average ASCs use EZ-TRAX ™ to go from seven trays to three trays, which still yields signifi cant time and cost savings. The other benefi t is the ONE TRAY Sealed Sterilization Container, essential for rapid turnover — sometimes saving up to 2 hours per case (depending on sterilizer and facility). Ms. Chavez's facility has been able to go from six trays to two trays. With fewer trays, processing time, sterilization time and storage needs have decreased. Based on their experience, having fewer trays provides advantages for vendors — who are typically extremely hands-on and engaged — and staff members, who now have fewer trays to assemble and an easier way to assemble them. At Ms. Chavez's facility, not only has this shift improved effi ciency, but it also improved staff satisfaction and morale. Ensuring that proper instrumentation is always prepared and ready is now more manageable. The surgeons and staff have what they need and can focus on ensuring that patients are cared for, without worrying about having the proper instrumentation. Assessing the opportunity As more orthopedic procedures shift to ASCs, most ASCs initially try to accommodate this volume by working harder and faster, Mr. Kemp observed. He also stressed that in conversations with leaders, that's not a sustainable solution for long-term success. ASCs need to explore systematic ways to improve operational effi ciency and organizational capacity. Mr. Kemp has seen many ASCs start their journey to improved effi ciency by undertaking a discovery process. Such a process involves looking objectively for bottlenecks and sources of ineffi ciency, and then exploring possible solutions. Once ASCs review their processes and analyze the issues associated with their large number of trays — and quantify the time savings, cost savings and reduced storage needs — they understand the value in migrating to a tray-reduction solution. When evaluating potential solutions, Mr. Kemp stressed the need to account for regulatory requirements for facilities and medical device manufacturers. Change management Based on Ms. Chavez's experience, the benefi ts of EZ-TRAX ™ and ONE TRAY® are signifi cant. Her facility is using fewer trays and saving time and money. The instruments are sterile, ready and easier for everyone involved. In migrating to these solutions, the most signifi cant challenge experienced wasn't technological, fi nancial or operational — it was overcoming the organizational inertia related to changing to a new, unfamiliar process. Ms. Chavez acknowledged that for ASCs with a high volume of orthopedic procedures, making any process change can feel uncomfortable. Still, she encouraged ASCs to start small — for example, by trying one orthopedic medical device vendor. Once they see the reduction in trays along with the time and storage savings, she predicted, they'll be on board. Mr. Kemp's experience supports this. "Most of our customers who adopt ONE TRAY® and EZ-TRAX ™ save over 3 hours between the washer, disinfector, all the way through to delivery to the OR," he said. Both encouraged ASC leaders to embrace change even if it initially feels uncomfortable — because doing so can improve patient outcomes, effi ciency and staff satisfaction. "ONE TRAY has really been a huge advantage to us," Ms. Chavez said. "It creates an effi cient fl ow to have reduced the number of trays, and we are ready to go for all of our facility's cases." Elevate your surgical workfl ow and face challenges due to space, excessive cost, disconnect in instrument delivery and processing of instrumentation with The Total Solution: The ONE TRAY® sealed sterilization container, the EZ-TRAX™ modular instrument organizational tray, and the ONE CART™ sealed case cart. Reconfi gure orthopedic sets and optimize tray utilization. Condoc 677

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