We categorize our supplies by specialty. Each specialty has its own cart, and each cart is assigned to a staff member. For example, a scrub nurse who works with the eye surgeons oversees the eye cart. The staff person is responsible for notifying the material manager when supplies need to be reordered. This helps us maintain just-in-time inventory without having to worry about running out of supplies.

Marlene Brunswick, RN
Director of Nursing, Findlay (Ohio) Surgery Center
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"If I had an extra hour, I'd ..."
Here's a better way for your staff to spend time during lags between cases than to hang out in the staff lounge. Ask every staff member as part of her annual evaluation to jot down an "If I had an extra hour, I'd ..." list. Have all those responses typed up on a "work list." Then, during those inevitable delays during the day, staff can choose something on that list to do. Ideas are already generated and can be put into immediate action.

Pamela Hunt, RN, BSN, MSN
Marion General Hospital
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Launder less linen
We have reduced our linen costs by reducing the number of blankets we use during cases. The key is that we do so without compromising our patients' comfort. Here's how:

• we keep the OR temperature at a level that is both comfortable to the staff as well as the patient.
• since our patients do not undress for surgery, we advise them to wear warm clothing (including socks, tops with front openings and slacks)
• and we have blankets available but do not automatically use them for all patients.

Jane Louden
Associate Vice President of Surgery
Programs, NovaMed Eyecare, Inc.
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Analyze a contract's administrative costs
When negotiating managed-care contracts, many times facility managers do not consider administrative expenses. Do a cost analysis to determine your actual administrative expenses, including the "preauthorization" costs, claim filing, posting of charge and related patient billing/collections expenses. And remember that these costs increase as additional follow-up is required, such as telephone calls, written requests and provision of additional medical record information. Administrative expenses can easily double, triple or quadruple and cut into your profits.

Vickie Axsom-Brown
President, Practice Resources, LLC (Anderson, S.C.)
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Don't keep them waiting
In the interest of our patients and our waiting-room space, we ask most of our patients to arrive no more than 30 to 45 minutes before their procedure.

Ann McMahan, RN
Nurse Manager, The Outpatient Surgery Center
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Incentivize patients to return surveys
To give our patients incentive to complete and return their post-op satisfaction surveys, we began a program in which we purchase a $50 gift certificate to an upscale local restaurant once a month. We distribute a coupon with each patient survey. Those who return the survey are entered in a monthly drawing for the gift certificate. Our patients love the program and our return rate on the surveys is now about 74 percent.

Robert Fusco, MD
Director, Center for Digestive Health and Nutrition
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Skimp on sets
Look carefully at your basin sets. Many cases such as hernias, breast biopsies and ENT cases do not use many of the items in the basin set. We switched from a complete $18 basin set to pulling items separately and cut the cost in half. For simple cases, we pull separately a single basin, Raytex, Suction Tubing, Needle Counter and 15 Blades.

Fred Brownstein, RN, CNOR
Surgical Services Materials Coordinator,
Tallahassee Community Hospital
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