Journal article
The Hidden Costs of Reconciling Surgical Sponge Counts
AORN journal, Vol.102(5), pp.498-506
11/2015
DOI: 10.1016/j.aorn.2015.09.002
PMID: 26514707
Abstract
Retained surgical sponges are serious adverse events that can result in negative patient outcomes. The primary method of prevention is the sponge count. Searching for sponges to reconcile counts can result in inefficient use of OR time. The purpose of this descriptive study was to estimate the cost of nonproductive OR time (ie, time spent not moving forward with the surgical procedure) spent reconciling surgical sponge counts and the cost of using radiography to rule out the presence of retained sponges. We included 13,322 patient surgeries during a nine-month period. Perioperative personnel required from one to 90 minutes of additional time to reconcile each of 212 incorrect/unresolved counts. The total annualized cost of OR time spent searching for sponges and ruling out the presence of potentially retained sponges using radiography was $219,056. These costs should be included in comprehensive cost analyses when considering alternatives to supplement the surgical count.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Hidden Costs of Reconciling Surgical Sponge Counts
- Creators
- Victoria M Steelman - University of Iowa, NursingAnn G SchaapveldYelena Perkhounkova - University of Iowa, NursingHillary E StormMichelle Mathias
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- AORN journal, Vol.102(5), pp.498-506
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.aorn.2015.09.002
- PMID
- 26514707
- ISSN
- 0001-2092
- eISSN
- 1878-0369
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/2015
- Academic Unit
- Nursing
- Record Identifier
- 9984006975002771
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