SERENITY / OPERATIONAL WHITE PAPER

OR-TO-DECONTAM RECONCILIATION

Count at the handoff.
Act on the discrepancy.

Immediate return counts connect the operating room to decontam and make missing instruments visible sooner.

Illustrative imagery

The operational challenge

When returned instruments are counted well after the handoff, teams can lose the context needed to understand a discrepancy. An unresolved shortage can turn into a search, replacement request or a patient-safety escalation without a clear account of the return.

The SurgiDat approach

With OR case receiving in decontam enabled, SurgiDat supports receiving completed cases and recording returned instrument counts. Capturing counts immediately at the OR-to-decontam handoff gives the team a timely operational record for reconciliation.

The value to evaluate

Earlier reconciliation can help reduce lost instruments and avoidable replacement costs. It also supports retained-item risk reduction by making discrepancies visible for prompt escalation alongside the surgical count process.

SERENITY / OPERATIONAL WHITE PAPER

OR-TO-DECONTAM RECONCILIATION

A practical workflow

An illustrative scenario

A tray returns with an instrument unaccounted for. Recording the count at receiving allows the OR and decontam teams to review the same case and assembly context while investigating the handoff. Any concern about a retained item follows the hospital’s clinical escalation process.

Measures for a facility pilot

• • Elapsed time from OR return to recorded decontam count
• • Number and age of unresolved return discrepancies
• • Confirmed instrument losses and related replacement spend

A focused starting point

Choose a procedure group, define the expected handoff time and agree who records and reviews counts. Compare a baseline period with the pilot, including discrepancy resolution time and instrument loss costs.

Scope and interpretation

Decontam receiving supports reconciliation; it does not replace intraoperative counts or authorize case closure when a surgical count is unresolved. No reduction in retained-item events is asserted without clinical evidence.