U.S. hospitals waste $15M in unused OR surgical supplies each year

Perhaps the most shocking finding – most of the items the investigators tracked were high-demand items such as gauze, sutures, and surgical towels. A whopping 2 million pounds of these materials were reported. So the question has to be asked, "How much are you contributing towards that total?"

One area for investigation is bundling of surgical materials. While bundling may help with efficiency, it may also be generating unused items. Looking at your bundles or kits to determine the level of waste and then making adjustments (or eliminating kits altogether for certain cases) may impact not only waste but profitability.

Another simpler, quicker solution may be instituting a sterile, unused material drop zone within each OR.

Moving ahead with a cost-effective solution