Choices made around storage room setup reverberate across the life of an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC). The majority of your staff will be directly impacted by your storage decisions.
This means you'll want to consider the needs of a range of roles that will be using your storage areas. This includes surgeons, clinical support staff, and non-clinical employees. For example, clinical staff will have valuable input into the type of storage needed in procedural and other clinical areas. Storage equipment and room configurations will impact work-flows and productivity. Make time for in-depth conversations around questions such as:
- Where do we store equipment so it doesn't hinder patient -flow, doesn't violate safety and regulatory requirements, and is easy for staff to access when needed?
- What locations are convenient for non-clinical supplies: office supplies, cleaning supplies, and dietary supplies?
- What kind of system is needed in storage rooms (rack and rail, rack only, bin walls, or a combination of these)?
- What kind of inventory management system will we be using?
If you don’t have staff or advisors on board to consult, consider tapping into your supply vendor as a resource. The ideal vendor partner will be eager to help you optimize your storage set up and inventory management processes and will continue to support you as your facility grows and evolves. Visit our ASC Development site for more tips and an easier way to plan, build, and open your new facility.