9 August 2022 | Product and Promotions Guide
Inventory
Management
Nothing can be more
aggravating than having to
reschedule a surgery because you
don't have the required inventory
on hand and sterilized. It's an
inconvenience to the client and
is highly preventable if a few
important steps are implemented
in your practice. A good practice
to implement is to always count
implant usage in real time. In
our practice, one staff member
is charged with keeping track of
the implants used during a case.
It is the surgeon's responsibility
to call them out and the team is
then tasked with re-stocking the
inventory immediately.
It's always a good practice to
review your standing inventory
prior to scheduling, so that you're
not waiting for the delivery truck
and a fast sterilization turnaround
time to perform a case. This also
applies to other items you may
use in surgery, such as having the
proper sutures, suction tubes, laser
tips, electrocautery tips, and many
other necessary consumables.
Having a solid team around you
goes a long way to avoiding and
preventing inventory shortages.
It's also good to work with a solid
inventory partner who understands
your surgical requirements and
volumes and works with you to
maintain inventories.
Aftercare and
Compliance
For both the pet and
the client, healing starts when
the surgery is complete. It's been
proven in both human and animal
studies that follow-up and post-op
visits contribute greatly to overall
healing. In addition to providing
clear and concise instructions to the
pet owner, scheduling a follow-
up visit is a good step towards
increased compliance.
1. AVMA https://www.avma.org/personal-protective-equipment-ppe. Accessed June 24, 2022.
2. NIOSH Directory of Personal Protective Equipment https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ppe/. Accessed June 24, 2022.
3. OSHA PPE Fact Sheet https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ppe-factsheet.pdf.
Accessed June 24, 2022.
RECOMMENDED READING: Nonadherence to follow-up recommendations is common for dogs and cats
undergoing orthopedic surgery. Kevin A. de Moya DVM, Jade M. Reppenhagen BS, and Stanley E. Kim
BVSc, MS, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of
Florida, Gainesville, FL. https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/260/S1/javma.21.01.0019.
xml. Accessed June 21, 2022.
About the author Karl C. Maritato, DVM, DACVS-SA, is a board-certified
Veterinary Surgeon at MedVet Cincinnati, where he has been part of the medical team
since 2010. Dr. Maritato is a paid consultant for Animal Health Logistics, LLC d/b/a EPiQ
Animal Health.
Conclusion
The art of veterinary surgery is
an ever-changing discipline, as
innovations are continuous and
new technologies are being passed
down from human medicine at
a faster rate than ever before.
Despite these innovations, this list
of tried and true basics to ensure
successful surgical outcomes
remains steadfast.
