title: Standardizing adult tracheostomy tube styles: what is the clinical and cost-effective impact?
abstract: Tracheostomy tubes are made of a variety of materials, components, and styles. In a recent merger of our hospitals, we noted a large assortment of tubes available for clinicians. The different tubes resulted in complaints from staff, which included confusion, delays in obtaining preferred tubes, and inconsistent shelf stock. A multidisciplinary task force was formed to recommend standardizing the styles of tracheostomy tubes. A comparison of tracheotomy procedures, tracheostomy tube usage, and tube costs were done 6 months before and 6 months after the standardization. The number of tube styles decreased from 9 to 4; specialty extra-long tubes decreased from 3 to 2. There were no cost savings in standardizing the tracheostomy tubes.
authors.affiliation: Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA. janet.crimlisk@bmc.org
authors.forename: Janet T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Crimlisk
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: Gregory A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Grillone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D003363:Cost Control; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006273:Health Facility Merger / Q000458:organization & administration; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D011367:Professional Staff Committees / Q000458:organization & administration; D014139:Tracheostomy / Q000191:economics* / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards*; D014193:Trauma Centers / Q000458:organization & administration