Protecting Your Robotics Program

I have a confession to make. I am the WORST at changing the oil in my car and performing the routine maintenance required to keep the car in good working order. And consequently, every car I have ever owned has broken down, not once, but many times over.

My first excuse to avoid routine maintenance is usually time. I don’t feel like sitting in the car for 15 minutes while someone else does the work. I know, that’s pathetic, someone else actually does the work. All I have to do is sit there for 15 minutes but I don’t. Another excuse is cost. I hate to spend $100 at Jiffy Lube so I don’t.

And guess what happens . . . I end up paying way more for car repairs over time than if had slowed down, and taken the time to protect a very expensive asset in my life, my car.

I was told recently by a reprocessor of Robotic Arm Instruments, that 28% of the instruments he collected and sent to an Independent Reprocessing Center (IRC) were broken before their useful life had expired. That’s a big number.

I realize that placing a Robotic Instrument onto an instrument protector or sterilization card takes time (about 3 seconds) and adds cost to the pack, but it preserves the useful lives of those instruments. It protects your hospital’s investment.

I urge you to look at your Robotic instruments and calculate their worth (value) for each useful life. Then consider slowing down and protecting your hospital’s greatest asset, . . . its Robotic Surgery program.