Communication breakdowns in supply chain processes can impact patient safety as well as the bottom line, according to Mark Mele, Casetabs' national vice president of sales and marketing.
Mr. Mele shared insights on communication issues and how to avoid them with Becker's ASC Review.
Note: Responses have been lightly edited for style.
Question: What kinds of communication issues can cause ASCs to order the wrong equipment and implants?
Mark Mele: A variety of communication issues can result in erroneous orders. Scheduling forms are either filled out incorrectly or with a wrong or illegible number. Changes are made to cases and not communicated to the medical/device representative and/or scheduling, which would result in the representative showing up with the wrong piece of equipment. Another common communication issue is a surgeon opting to use a new device without checking with the center. If the new device is not approved at the surgery center, the facility must take on the higher cost for the implant.
The biggest issue, however, is the use of fragmented email, text messages, phone calls and faxes. When relying on multiple communication methods to coordinate a case, it is easy for important details to get lost, people to be left off of the communication list and updates to be missed. Furthermore, there is no way to track who is responsible for what.
Q: How prevalent is the problem, and what are the ramifications?
MM: The above-mentioned communication issues are common, and ramifications are twofold. There is financial impact when facilities are left to incur the cost of products ordered by a surgeon, yet not approved or covered by a facility. There is also added cost when multiple or unnecessary devices are ordered and left sitting on the shelf. Communication issues can also impact patient safety. For example, if an implant is not received in a timely manner (because it had to be overnighted), the facility must rely on immediate-use steam sterilization — formerly known as flash sterilization. While this form of sterilization is deemed an acceptable method according to [The Joint Commission] standards, it is far from ideal. When working with time constraints, facilities are forced to rely on this 'just enough' method of sterilization.
Q: What can ASCs do to prevent those communication problems?
MM: ASCs must break down the communication silos between physician office teams, surgery center teams, anesthesiologists and ancillary teams including medical reps, radiology and pathology. This requires a centralized communication hub to ensure everyone involved in a case is instantly and continuously on the same page. Once a case is scheduled, anesthesia assignments, staffing assignments, vendor reps and other resources critical to patient care are coordinated through the application. Meanwhile, real-time case updates and patient alerts are proactively sent to everyone involved in the case to ensure no change, medical issue or update is missed. Proactive alerts eliminate last minute surprises so that the right implant arrives at the right time.
The ability to coordinate and communicate real-time case information electronically in a manner that is easily accessible through a laptop or mobile device such as an iPhone or Android is especially important when working with medical reps who are often out of office. Cloud-based technology is essential to enable this anytime, anywhere access to information.