One center's experience with lowering medical supply costs in the operating room

The purpose of this study was to assess the possibility of lowering costs to organ procurement organizations by purchasing a custom medical supply pack for use in the operating room. Six hospitals in the organ procurement organization's service area were selected for a cost comparison report on selected medical supply items; 37 items were selected for review. A retrospective review of the itemized hospital bills from recent organ recovery cases at each hospital was completed. A medical supply company was contacted for price quotes on selected items for the supply pack. The price quote from the medical supply company totaled $220.30. The average cost of the items selected from the six hospitals was $822.65. The average cost savings per organ recovery case was calculated at $602.35. Based on an estimated 80 organ donors per year, organ procurement organizations could save as much as $48,188 annually.