Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Throwing in the Towel "Time out Towel" to be exact
Ok, I understand the need to do a Time Out when starting a surgical case, but what happened today just blew me away. There in the room was a Registered Time Out Safety Towel! It is just an Orange towel that says time out. Of course it is trademarked and no doubt created and owned by someone who works with JACHO because these just showed up before our latest JACHO inspection. I had to ask how much these cost. Well, since they are in the OR they must be sterile and have a thread count that makes sure that they wont leave lint on the instruments. Of course, they are disposable. So, guess what. A box of 24 individually wrapped, sterile Time Out (r) safety towls is $112.00. So, instead of just having the time out, we know have to have the JACHO approved and probably wholly owned useless towel that just ads even more cost to the health care system. I hate to admit, I took the towel and wadded it up and threw it as hard as I could at the hamper only to be told that they couldn't be reused!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Will there be a line item on the patient bill? "Time out towels - 3 - $60"
Will there be guidelines about minimum and maximum usage per patient? Per day? Per hospital? Per physician? Will the IPAB ration time-out towels?
How are time-outs declared? By vote? Do the nurses vote?
Are time-outs official if a towel is not used? Is there an indication in the EMR about the time-out and whether it is official?
Where is the towel thrown? On the patient? On the floor? Directly into the waste container? Should they be counted, so none are left in/on the patient by accident?
Where are they stored? Do they expire? Do they come in different durations? Is the duration a matter of judgment, or are there official guidelines?
Medical practice has become so sophisticated.
Bureaucracy at it's penultimate!
Hi Throckmorton - I thought I put a comment in here. ?
Evidently not. Sigh..computer woes - things not going through or even opening.
My question was, What is an OR Time Out? Something verify you have everything you are supposed to before, during or after the surgery?
Or is it break time when the refreshments are passed around halfway through surgery? Might explain why I woke up post stent removal singing "Put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up... put the lime... ;)
Post a Comment