Fallen Stars and Shining Stars: Which Does Your SPD Have?

Who’s running your sterile processing department (SPD)? If the answer to this question is a “fallen star” from another department in the organization, you may have taken on a bigger problem than you had before. What is a fallen star? It’s the person who seems to rub others the wrong way or weren’t successful in their previous assignment. Ask yourself why you think they are going to be successful running your SPD.

Our experience at SIPS Healthcare Consultants has found that many organizations don’t understand the importance of putting the right people in charge of running the SPD.

The SPD is responsible for one of the largest revenue streams in the organization — the operating room (OR). Organizations continue to lose money through canceled cases, the right instruments not at the right place at the right time, or because they are paying millions of dollars on infections caused by residual bioburden on instruments or problematic flash sterilization practices.

An SPD manager must know more than how to manage the budget. He/she must have a thorough understanding of the department. They also must have the appropriate leadership team. If one person isn’t as strong at a particular task, the other one is and vice versa. Plainly speaking, it doesn’t matter how many trays are prepared and how many cases go up if they are not correct.