[Use of medical supplies in surgical center after implementation of an automated management system]

Lessons from a Surgical Center Satellite Warehouse in a Large Brazilian Public Hospital

Brazilian public hospitals face several operational problems not only related to poor public management practices and their complex nature, but also the economic, and social contexts. Considering this scenario and the fact that efforts in supply management might affect a hospital organization’s excellence, this research aims to identify improvements in the logistic operations at the surgical center satellite warehouse of a Public Hospital located in Brazil. A case study based on an exploratory and qualitative approach was conducted by employing document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and on-site observations. Seven major problems concerning lack of surgical material, the non-definition of crucial logistic parameters, low information flow, surgical supply control, and management problems were pointed and addressed by seven independent but complementary actions that considered the Brazilian healthcare system’s particularities. Given the nature of exploratory research, the results are not exhaustive and cannot be generalized to different contexts. However, they help understand that reducing the waste of the logistics processes makes it possible to improve the attention to the local population that uses public health services.

The cost of waste of consumable materials in a surgical center

OBJECTIVES

to identify the types, quantities and cost of the consumable materials sent, used, returned unopened and wasted in surgical operations; to classify the incidences of waste as avoidable or unavoidable losses, and to calculate the rate of waste of the consumable materials in the peri-operative period in the Surgical Center of a São Paulo university hospital.

METHOD

a descriptive-exploratory case study with a quantitative approach. The convenience sample corresponded to 105 types of consumable materials sent for the 275 operations observed between February and May 2011.

RESULTS

the items wasted most were surgical sutures, surgical cotton sutures, and gauze compresses. The total cost of the waste was R$ 709.84. The mean percentage of waste in the sample was 9.34%, of which 1.23% was avoidable and 8.14% unavoidable.

CONCLUSION

the study evidenced that the effective management of material resources reduces the costs of the processes, and reduces waste.