INSIDE THE CURRENT ISSUE

July 2011

Special Focus

 
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Supply chain of command hooks into C-suite

As hospitals and other healthcare facilities grapple with all sorts of fiscal doomsday scenarios in advance of a complete rollout of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act reform package in January, C-suite executives are leaving no stone unturned for cost-cutting opportunities – including closer ties to Supply Chain Operations.

Follow the leaders

Occupy C-suite

Operating Room
Running hot and cold, normothermia impacts clinical, fiscal outcomes

Temperature is one of the four vital signs and if not maintained also can serve as one of the four horsemen of clinical/surgical apocalypse. Unintended hypothermia can cause immune-system impairment. Infection can emerge at the surgical site. Failure to maintain normothermia can cause impaired wound healing, cardiac events, increased blood loss and transfusions, and more, all of which translates to longer healing times and costly, lengthened hospital stays.

Infection Prevention

Gearing up for safety dance

Responsible provision and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) carries with it implications that reach far beyond meeting requirements mandated by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). It provides assurance and peace of mind for the healthcare worker certainly, but also one less worry for patients, as well as hospital administration.

Vendor Listings

 


 

Cover photo courtesy Kimberly-Clark

CS Connection

3 Ts needed for sterility assurance: Time, technology and training

In an ideal world, where a sterile processing and distribution department (SPD) can perform every step of the cleaning, decontamination, disinfection and sterilization processes flawlessly and in accordance with manufacturer instructions for use (IFU) and industry standards, the risk of a contaminated instrument reaching a surgeon’s hands is slim. But we neither live nor work in an ideal world.

Self Study Series
A primer on disinfection

IAHCSMM Viewpoint

CS Solutions

 

Products and Services

Does Supply Chain need a freight awakening?

When it comes to managing freight – including inbound and outbound packaging, shipping and transportation – just how efficient are healthcare facilities in doing it really? In the short run, overnighting stuff can cover and hide a multitude of inventory management, demand planning or even last-minute, sweat-inducing product needing sins. Yet it can create a multitude of other sins, too.

How ship-shape is your organization? Take our quiz and learn the truth

Simple rules for ship-shape performance

People & Opinions

Fast Foreward

Newsmaker
Do the math: Busting the myths about managing inventory
by Fred W. Crans

Having My Say
Vendor fairness called into question
by Rick Dana Barlow

Standard Practices
Putting auto ID technology to work in healthcare
by Karen Conway

Back Talk
In search of … a single stocking location
by David S. Kaczmarek

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