OR Business Management Conference 2018
I hope our paths crossed while attending the OR Business Management conference. One thing is clear – you are busy juggling many key functions in the surgical department. Sessions covered Time management: Better Utilization Means Better Access to Care, Strategies to Help Your Hospital Win at Value-Based Population Health Management, Building the Case for a Perioperative Float Pool, and Demanding Planning and Inventory Management. It is clear that you are responsible for demonstrating a wide range of business, supply chain, time management, and human resource skills for the successful – and efficient – delivery of quality patient care.
As an OR business manager, we know these are your main priorities. We also know – because you have told us - sustainability and resource conservation is on your mind. From unused products in surgical packs, the many one-and-done single-use products, and the various colored bags of trash leaving the O.R. after every procedure. You and OR team experience the unbalanced cost of patient health and the result of unhealthy waste contributing to pollution and environmental health. As one OR Manager we work with said, “It’s so disheartening to know I’m doing my job, but then we are sending our patients back out into an unhealthy environment that we may have contributed to.”
Perhaps you are not the only to take note. Is your OR staff commenting about the waste? Maybe professionals from other parts of the hospital are asking for sustainable solutions. You might be considering a kit reformulation or other waste management. You could also be concerned about staffing and the decline of people entering the medical field, and how you could attract and retain your talent.
For all of these reasons we at NewGen Surgical can offer you greener operations to connect your OR with a mission – a program to commit to eliminating plastic waste - with a low conversion cost. And those newly entering the workforce love to work at a healthcare system with a mission they care about, and the employees you already have will appreciate being part of a solution to eliminate plastic waste.
Smart sustainable procurement is a key success factor in delivering the human health benefits of an Environmentally Preferable Products (EPP) policy. An EPP is one of the best approaches in aligning hospital purchasing with sustainability and community needs initiatives. Learn more about our Small Change, Big Impact EPP™ program for more information.
What you buy has impact
The healthcare supply chain usually flows in one direction, from manufacturer to user to waste bin. And the current healthcare waste management process is built to accommodate the plastics-intensive supply chain. Almost everything negotiated on behalf of the hospital to provide quality patient care will end up in a waste stream generating over 12,790 tons of waste, every day, across the nation.
Hospitals are seeking products that align with the values in protecting human health and to address their contribution to pollution. New conversations are taking place with suppliers about more environmentally friendly options, chemicals of concern, supply chain transparency, total cost of ownership, and end-of-life disposal.
Better inputs, better waste management
When you buy plastic, you dispose of plastic. From the US EPA, the most environmentally and cost-effective approach to waste is source reduction and reuse. Source reduction, also referred to as pollution prevention, means any practice that reduces or eliminates waste at the source.
NewGen Surgical approaches source reduction through product redesign.
Smart Sustainable DesignTM
Performance, economic value and sustainability drive Smart Sustainable Design™. Much like the healthcare industry’s emphasis treating root cause by focusing on wellness and prevention for people, NewGen Surgical is doing the same by examining and redesigning products with more sustainable materials on the front end to achieve a source reduction of plastic used and a reduction of end-of-life plastic pollution in the environment. Our development process begins with a thorough understanding of the clinical performance doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals expect from a single-use disposable device. By rethinking, redesigning and reimagining a surgical product used every day in the operating room, we can reduce or eliminate plastic waste – and still deliver clinical performance at a price that brings value to our customers.
Greener Operations with NewGen Surgical
How many needle counters and skin staplers are part of your surgical department’s inventory? Are they included in your surgical kits? NewGen Surgical products offer similar clinical performance while delivering a measurable reduction in plastic waste.
Our products are designed to replace existing plastic, single-use, disposable products without interrupting the workflow of the hospital, surgical procedures or disposal processes. They are made with a post-agricultural by-product and offer an alternative to petroleum-derived products. Because of their sustainability qualities, the environmental impacts throughout the life cycle is reduced, from a decrease in energy used for production to the ability to decompose. NewGen Surgical products are free of chemicals of concern listed on environmentally preferred purchasing scorecards for healthcare, and the packaging can be recycled if the services are available.
Your purchasing influence can eliminate thousands of pounds of plastic waste with one of the lowest conversion costs. Addressing source reduction at the surgical kit level is an upstream solution that has a big impact on eliminating plastic waste with one of the lowest conversion costs. The investment of time and training are minimal when a similar single-use disposable surgical product is switched to one made with sustainable material.
The Lancet, Carbon footprinting in health systems: one small step towards planetary health, Vol 1, December 2017
Ordering Information
To learn more or order, contact sales at NewGen Surgical at 1.855.295.4500 or email us at: sales@newgensurgical.com