Sterile Processing Department Benchmarking for Labor Productivity

Personnel are a critical resource in health care. Ensuring that enough staff members are available to provide necessary care for patients is of utmost importance. Leaders can use labor productivity measures to compare their department to other like departments and set a benchmark to ensure that staff members are performing at their fullest potential. Productivity measures provide data to help leaders better understand how well processes, personnel, and technology are performing the required work of the department. Benchmarking the sterile processing department for labor productivity is one of the measures that leaders can use to ensure that staff members understand expectations and the role that they play in providing quality care and improving patient outcomes. Benchmarking provides the sterile processing leader with the ability to measure performance; look for opportunities to improve performance; and ensure that staff members are working safely and efficiently, especially during staffing shortages.