Revealing complex interdependencies in surgical instrument reprocessing using SEIPS 101 tools

Gabriel C Segarra; Ken Catchpole; Michael F Rayo; Sudeep Hegde; Christine Jefferies; Jeffrey Woodward; Kevin Taaffe

doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2024.104307

Revealing complex interdependencies in surgical instrument reprocessing using SEIPS 101 tools

Appl Ergon. 2024 May 11:119:104307. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2024.104307. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Gabriel C Segarra¹, Ken Catchpole², Michael F Rayo³, Sudeep Hegde⁴, Christine Jefferies³, Jeffrey Woodward², Kevin Taaffe⁴

Affiliations

¹ Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States. Electronic address: segarra@musc.edu.
² Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States.
³ The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
⁴ Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States.

PMID: 38735234
DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2024.104307

Abstract

Sterile Processing Departments (SPDs) must clean, maintain, store, and organize surgical instruments which are then delivered to Operating Rooms (ORs) using a Courier Network, with regular coordination occurring across departmental boundaries. To represent these relationships, we utilized the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) 101 Toolkit, which helps model how health-related outcomes are affected by healthcare work systems. Through observations and interviews which built on prior work system analyses, we developed a SEIPS 101 journey map, PETT scan, and tasks matrices to represent the instrument reprocessing work system, revealing complex interdependencies between the people, tools, and tasks occurring within it. The SPD, OR and Courier teams are found to have overlapping responsibilities and a clear co-dependence, with critical implications for the successful functioning of the whole hospital system.

Keywords: SEIPS 101; Sterile processing; Surgery.