2012 Volume 13 Issue 2 Pages 91-94
In-hospital sterile instruments stored in the central sterile supply room were managed under the Supply, Processing, & Distribution (SPD) system. The system was reviewed to reduce dead stock (defined as in-hospital sterile instruments that had been stored for over 180 days-the period of validity) in hospital wards and in outpatient departments to increase work efficiency. For an analysis of the current situation, a survey was conducted on the names of in-hospital sterile instruments, numbers of supplies allocated to each department, numbers of instruments used in one month, types of appliances included in instrument sets, and time schedule of SPD. As the results of the survey, the numbers of allocated supplies were higher than the mean or even maximum numbers of sterile instruments actually used per day, and the same instruments were included in different sets. In the hospital wards, emergency treatments after 5:00 p.m. during night shift and ward rounds in the morning immediately before the start of the day shift were conducted. Then, the numbers of allocated supplies and time schedule of the SPD were changed and the appliance sets were reviewed. These improvements reduced dead stock in outpatient departments and in hospital wards by approximately 20 to 40% respectively, and increased work efficiency. The hospital decided to continue to exert efforts on a regular basis to implement appropriate inventory management based on the SPD system.
