Success Story SAM Fleet Care
Hospital Šumperk – 20th February, 2020
Complete renewal of surgical instrument fleet: the first SAM Fleet Care customer in the Czech Republic.
Doctors of the Šumperk Hospital are performing surgeries with new surgical instruments since today. Instead of buying them, the hospital is the first in the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe to benefit from the SAM Fleet Care program from B. Braun Medical. In this way, surgeons are pleased about nearly 3,500 Aesculap Quality surgical instruments which are provided for a fixed monthly fee for six years.
Surgical instruments in proper condition are a key factor for successful surgical interventions!
Instruments must be in an appropriate condition in order to minimize the risk of complications during surgery. The Šumperk Hospital has now taken an unusual step and completely replaced its old surgical instruments. It is the first hospital in the Czech Republic to be provided with 3,483 pieces of new instruments together with the holistic SAM Fleet Care program for a monthly fee.
“We are the first hospital in the country to go for the holistic SAM Fleet Care program including surgical instruments. There are several reasons: From the OPTIMIZATION of the instrument sets and its AESCULAP QUALITY, over significant FINANCIAL SAVINGS (≈ 30 %) up to ORIGINAL AESCULAP MANUFACTURER REPAIRS, which are also part of the SAM Fleet Care program. Our surgeons will continuously have access to instruments in a condition adequate to their precise and delicate work.”
Says JUDr. Martin Polach, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Šumperk Hospital
If the hospital has all the surgical instruments in an adequate condition, this could contribute, among other factors, to reduce the risk of transmitting nosocomial infections and the potential risk of operator error.
A possible positive effect of having less instruments per tray is the potential cost reduction:
“Moreover, by having less instruments, our operating costs could be reduced significantly.”
Says JUDr. Martin Polach, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Šumperk Hospital
Martin Polach adds that renting a toolbox from one supplier, including Original Aesculap Manufacturer Repairs and other value added services will bring the hospital ANNUAL COST SAVINGS OF ABOUT 30 %.
The hospital highlights that SAM Fleet Care is a flexible long-term solution and not a classic one-time delivery.
“When the number or composition of surgical interventions changes, the hospital will have the possibility to adapt the instrument fleet accordingly. It is clearly a change of mind. The hospital does not only benefit from our Aesculap Quality instruments, with more than 150 years of experience in field of manufacturing surgical instruments, but also from the long-term partnerships. Lots of other value added services tailored to the needs of the hospital are part of SAM Fleet Care, such as Original Aesculap Manufacturer Repairs, professional staff training and process consulting.”
Says MUDr. Alan Munteanu, Member of the B. Braun Group Management
In contrast to a classical purchase, prior to the offer an Inventory Analysis was made by B. Braun:
“It turned out that a number of surgical instruments were already subject to wear. It is clear that if you operate the instruments daily for many years, exposing them to a demanding sterilization process, they might fulfill their function, but their condition can be improvable. It is similar to gardening tools: With old pruning shears, you will also cut what you need, but sometimes you have to cut several times and exert more force compared to new ones.”
Explains Ing. Matěj Šťastný, Biomedical Engineer of Šumperk Hospital
His words are also confirmed by doctors from the orthopedic department, who were the first to start operating with new B. Braun instruments today.
“IT'S LIKE REPLACING AN OLD CAR WITH A NEW SPORT CAR.”
Comments MUDr. Zdeněk Štěpán, Manager of Operations and the former Head of Orthopedics
During Set Consulting (which was also part of SAM Fleet Care) it was noticed that some of the existing inventory can be eliminated, as most of it has never been used during surgery. Finally the instrument fleet of the Šumperk Hospital could be REDUCED FROM 5,144 INSTRUMENTS TO 3,483 BRAND NEW SAM FLEET CARE INSTRUMENTS, which means a reduction of 32 %.
“I'm glad our doctors and nurses accepted the idea that it is more efficient not to have one huge set for all cases in the hospital, but rather dividing and combining it in a meaningful manner and subsequently defining supplement sets containing specialized instruments for specialized surgeries.”
Adds Ing. Matěj Šťastný, Biomedical Engineer of Šumperk Hospital
According to him, the hospital managed to unify very similar instruments with the same use.
“This will simplify the situation for the operating room staff and relieve the central sterilization staff as they will not have to sterilize as many surgical instruments on a daily basis.”
Adds Ing. Matěj Šťastný, Biomedical Engineer of Šumperk Hospital
Consequently, surgical sets are not unnecessarily overloaded with surgical instruments and the safety of personnel is increased thanks to the reduced risk of work accidents related to overloaded sets.
Image: Ing. Matěj Šťastný, Biomedical Engineer of Šumperk Hospital
In addition, doctors can always rely on complete sets thanks to the availability of backup instruments, which are placed in a well-organized Backup Stock in the CSSD warehouse.
In case an instrument needs to be repaired or replaced, the CSSD employee can take a substitute instrument out of the Backup Stock and thereby complete the set.
Reference video
First SAM Fleet Care in Czech Republic, Šumperk Hospital.
More Details about the Šumperk Hospital
The owner of the Šumperk Hospital changed five years ago. MUDr. Martin Polach is investing a lot in the development of the hospital and in the purchase of new equipment technology. The hospital opened new workplaces, built a new super aseptic operating theater and invested in insulating. In 2017, the owner of the hospital built a new modern radio diagnostic area, and newly launched the operation of magnetic resonance imaging. It was a large investment, which costed more than 160 million CZK (approx. 6.111.125 Euro). The largest investment in the history of the hospital, which costed 220 million CZK (approx. 8.403.000 Euro), is the opening of a long-term intensive and subsequent nursing care ward, which will result from the reconstruction of the “old surgery building” and open this summer.
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