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Cost Savings in Urology Operating Rooms by Editing Surgeon Preference Cards. Quality management in health care Pesigan, P., Chen, H., Bajaj, A. A., Gill, H. S. 2021; 30 (2): 135–37

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Operating room costs contribute significantly to the overall expenditure for inpatient care. We evaluated a simple way to reduce urology operating room costs by limiting the loss from unused disposable items.METHODS: Baseline data were collected on opened and unused disposable items. Surgeons were asked to edit their preference cards and mark optional surgical items that would only be opened if requested.RESULTS: The cost of unused disposable items during the first 4 weeks in 3 operating rooms averaged $410/week. Costs after implementing the intervention declined to an average of $30/week. This yielded $380/week in savings, equating to a 92% reduction in waste, and a potential savings of $19 760 annually in the 2 urology operating rooms alone.CONCLUSION: Since the urology department represents only 10% of the main operating rooms at our institution, if other operating rooms implemented similar cost saving methods the hospital could potentially accrue significant savings.

View details for DOI 10.1097/QMH.0000000000000311

View details for PubMedID 33783426