Montana company, O.R. PEER ™ has developed a software program that will save lives and reduce the cost of Surgery.

The O.R. PEER ™ http://matr.net/click.php?id=1432&url=http://www.orpeer.com solution improves quality and efficiency is now in use at five award winning hospitals in four states and continues to expand to other facilities. For example, Boise Idaho’s St. Luke’s hospital has been recognized as one of the nation’s top hospitals by the National Research Corporation (NRC) for 2008/2009. The Consumer Choice Award honors hospitals chosen by consumers as having the best overall quality, best doctors and nurses, and the best image and reputation. St. Luke’s has received this designation from NRC annually for several years. It also has been awarded “Fastest O.R. turnover times in the Northwest” at 21 minutes – nearly 3 times faster than many hospitals.

In 2005, St. Vincent Hospital in Billings, Montana had a big problem with efficiency. In surgery every patient has unique considerations and every surgeon has a unique way of performing a surgery. With over half of their nursing staff contracted for temporary work, the efficiency of the operating room nearly crawled to a stop. Often temporary nurses and surgical techs are skilled and competent in their trade, but unfamiliar with the practices and preferences of the surgeons at a specific hospital. With few experienced mentors to turn to, mistakes could be rampant, surgeons frustrated and patients’ lives could be at risk.

The problem wasn’t the skills of the staff, but rather a lack of information about the unique preferences of each surgeon. The solution was to develop a software program, O.R. PEER™, that allowed nurses and surgical techs to quickly and easily find pictures, text and video instructions of how to setup surgical procedures to the exact specification of the surgeon.

Standardizing processes and procedures isn’t a new concept. Fast food giant, McDonald’s success is based on standardizing food preparations. If McDonald’s staff makes a mistake, the customer enjoys an extra pickle. In surgery, a mistake could cost a life or limb. Last year over 98,000 people died as a result human errors in the operating room. An additional 750,000 people die from sepsis, which sometimes is caused by improper use of surgical instruments and equipment. O.R. PEER™ is an easy to use resource that prevents mistakes by allowing staff to quickly refresh themselves with the best practices.

Over the years O.R. PEER™ use was expanded to include post surgery satisfaction surveys for staff and physicians to report problems with equipment, personnel or operations. These surveys have allowed management to quickly deal with issues and improve relationships between staff, physicians and management.

Recently, the World Health Organization’s surgical checklist, which has been proven to reduce errors by up to 50%, was implemented in a hospital via O.R. PEER™. This checklist keeps nurses and techs working with best practices to reduce possibilities for errors.

Today St. Vincent’s has fewer than 10% temporary O.R. Staff and was recently was awarded #1 hospital in surgical care in a 500 mile area (http://www.totalbenchmarksolution.com ). Productivity and staff moral is at an all time high. Medical errors and patient deaths are down. Unlike many hospitals facing significant deficits around the country, St. Vincent is still fiscally strong.

Thanks to the hard work and original ideas of Montanan healthcare professionals, the nation has a healthcare solution to improve patient safety and reduce the cost of healthcare using O.R. PEER ™.

For more information about O.R. PEER ™ please visit the website at http://matr.net/click.php?id=1432&url=http://www.orpeer.com or email the founder of PEER Industries, Friedrick Schweitzer, at [email protected] or call 888-278-9966