Authors (including presenting author) :
Yuen KC(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Tin Shui Wai Hospital
Keyword 1: :
OT specialty Instrument
Keyword 2: :
Stock management
Keyword 3: :
Reorder forecasting
Keyword 4: :
Workflow simplification
Keyword 5: :
Item locator
Introduction :
In order to relieve the management workload in the Operating Theater and shift more administrative focus onto surgeries, a project was initiated to hand over specialty instrument store management to SSD. To effectively manage over 8,500 specialty instruments within a reasonable timeframe, a carefully structured system with user-friendly logistics was designed that is capable of stock level monitoring, report generation, transaction capture, item allocation and reorder forecasting for both departments.
Objectives :
1. To fulfill Operation Theater requisition in specialty instrument store management handover.
2. To relocation specialty instrument store to a new storage system with systematic locators.
3. To develop monitoring system and logistic for two-way management for two departments
4. To reduce time consumption in Integrating OT's data to existing SSD system would significantly increase the overall workload and occupy manpower with heavy data entry tasks (approximately 12 months or more, based on previous cases in POH SSD).
Methodology :
1. Organize and analyze data provided by OT for VBA system design.
2. Communicate with OT management for expectation checks and requested must-have features.
3. Determine new workflows and responsibilities for both departments.
4. Design the data structure and format for future transaction data entry and reporting mechanisms (e.g., UID, name, model, brand, remarks, asset number, and stock level).
5. Stocktaking and relocate specialty instruments to new storage while designing standardized locators for item retrieval.
Result & Outcome :
1. A management system was created with monthly reports that assist OT in monitoring specialty instruments and provide references for item reordering.
2. Established locators that shorten retrieval time with organized storage layouts.
3. Revamped workflow enables instantaneous stock level checking before retrieving instruments for replacement.
4. Reduced the instrument nurse's workload by implementing the management system and locators.
5. Established a data structure, if needed, capable of QR code transformation for stocktaking and further reducing time for data entry. The project to enhance the OT specialty instrument stock management system has improved both effectiveness and efficiency, receiving positive feedback from both parties. As anticipated, the newly designed data structure and system drastically reduced the preparation time from approximately 12 months to 1.5 months, covering 75% of specialty instrument stock (as of November 2025). With additional data analysis capabilities and insights into surgical instrument consumption rates, it has empowered better reordering and budget control for surgical instruments in general.
