Educational Session at HSPA Conference Covers Data and Analytics in Sterile Processing

On April 22 at the Healthcare Sterile Processing Association (HSPA) conference in Las Vegas at the Caesars Forum, in a session entitled “The Instrumental Role of Data and Analytics in Sterile Processing,” John Erickson and Alison Sonstelie discussed data, key performance indicators, and methods for collecting data.

Erickson has been in Sterile Processing for 18 years and started his career as an entry-level technician, advancing to roles such as educator and manager. Sonstelie is a Client Success Manager at Ascendco Health. One of her current roles involves helping clients leverage their data to improve their operations. Prior to joining Ascendco, she worked in Sterile Processing and Supply Chain for over 10 years. During that time, she was elected to the HSPA Board of Directors, was part of the 2014 Healthcare Purchasing News CS/SP Department of the Year and participated in several AAMI workgroups.

Sterile Processing professionals are often left reacting to chaos and process breakdowns. The key to moving into a proactive approach is to get a better grasp of current performance. Data and its collection points are the foundation for understanding the department's current state and making improvements.

Sonstelie began the session by commenting, “The great part of HSPA is getting to meet people and peers.” She added the sterile processing profession is often chaotic and the one thing that can help is data.

“There aren’t really good benchmarks for data,” she said. But having data, she said, is helpful in the kind of meetings that “get emotional” at the hospital. Having data to back up what was done in the sterile processing department can make all the difference when it comes to interdepartmental meetings.

Erickson added a personal story of when he was interviewing for a manager position and the organization didn’t know their defects.

Sonstelie then stressed that one does not have to have a tracking system to collect data. Without a tracking system, there may be more manual work to be done but collecting data can still happen.

Erickson then continued to share his experience with the job he was interviewing for. He took the job and began gathering data through spreadsheets. He showed slides with various details, suggesting that year-over-year calculations can be a powerful tool for departments. Overall, he was successful in his endeavors and over time received real, actionable data for his department.

Sonstelie commented, “It is important to understand what data you want and what you want to do with it.” She stressed data to support specific strategies in an organization. If you’re tracking something that doesn’t need tracking, it is just making more work for staff.

And finally, Sonstelie wrapped up the session with some wisdom for the audience. “Be willing to be influenced by the data you’ve seen,” she said.