Every day, numerous articles explore how hospitals and health systems are seeking new revenue streams and identifying areas for cost reduction. However, one critical area that often goes unmentioned is the Sterile Processing Department (SPD).

SPD is typically viewed as an operational cost center rather than a revenue generator, despite its crucial role in supporting the hospital’s primary revenue source—surgical services. When SPD is not functioning at peak efficiency, operational costs rise, and revenue declines.

So, why doesn’t SPD receive the same attention as other departments? Perhaps it’s because it isn’t perceived as a strategic department. Yet, SPD deserves the same level of focus as any other major department.

Adherence to Standard Operating Procedures:
Surgical procedures account for 50% of hospital revenue and approximately 60% of operating costs. If a hospital has to cancel just one or two surgeries per week due to SPD issues, the resulting revenue loss could be as much as $4 million annually. Implementing a rigorous SPD education program and ensuring strict adherence to Standard Operating Procedures can reduce surgery cancellations, improve surgical start times and throughput, and enhance surgeon satisfaction.

Inefficient Surgical Trays:
On average, fewer than 20% of surgical instruments are used during a procedure, yet the cost of resterilizing and assembling instrument trays can range from $0.51 to $3.01 per instrument. By engaging experts to optimize tray preparation, hospitals can save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Surgical Site Infections:
According to the National Institutes of Health, surgical site infections (SSIs) account for about 20% of all healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), with at least 5% of patients undergoing surgery developing an SSI. Although the incidence of SSIs is estimated at 2–5% among inpatient surgeries, this number is likely underestimated, as approximately 50% of SSIs become apparent only after the patient has been discharged.

The financial impact of SSIs is substantial, making them the costliest of HAIs. Increased costs from SSIs are driven by longer hospital stays, emergency department visits, and readmissions. On average, SSIs extend hospital stays by 9.7 days and increase hospitalization costs by over $20,000 per admission.

Cleaning medical equipment ranks among the top 10 compliance issues, with reports from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and The Joint Commission indicating that one-third of hospitals have deficiencies in reprocessing.

At Moab Healthcare, we specialize in providing Sterile Processing and Perioperative Strategic Guidance, Leadership, and Certified Staff to address and eliminate these deficiencies. Our mission is to enhance patient safety and quality while offering healthcare organizations the opportunity to increase revenue and reduce costs.

[1] Journal of Vascular Surgery – Abstract Volume 73, ISSUE 6, P2144-2153

[1] NIH National Library of Medicine – Antibiotics (Basel). 2022 Nov; 11(11): 1608. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics11111608