OBJECTIVES : To estimate the economic impact of custom surgical packs, sets of disposables and sterile supplies optimally arranged and customized for each surgeon, on cataract and vitreoretinal (vit-ret) surgeries across accounting, materials management, and operating room (OR) departments at hospital and aggregate group levels in Canada.

METHODS : A self-reported time and motion study was conducted in the USA in 2019 among surgical technicians and supply chain managers. Current surgery preparation and materials management practices data were collected via an online survey by surgical technicians (27 cataract/26 vit-ret) and supply chain managers (19 cataract/15 vit-ret). Technicians timed 140 cataract and 140 vit-ret surgeries, recording surgical supply use from a comprehensive pack (Alcon’s Custom Pak®) and other sources. Using these inputs and Canadian facility and labor parameters, a budget impact model (BIM) was developed to estimate time and labor costs across three departments. Assuming 100% use of “generic commodity packs” (no equipment-specific supplies), we explored the impact of transitioning to 100% use of a “comprehensive pack” (Custom Pak®) in one vit-ret and two cataract scenarios.

RESULTS : Switching from generic commodity pack use to 100% comprehensive pack use in 1,000 community hospital vit-ret cases saves 27 materials management labor hours and 11 surgery preparation hours annually, translating to 13 additional procedures or CAD$23,853 – primarily OR costs. Implementing this change in 2,500 community hospital cataract cases saves 186 materials management hours and 78 preparation hours annually, or 196 equivalent procedures totaling CAD$53,819. Transitioning from generic commodity pack use to exclusive comprehensive pack use in 50,000 cataract cases at the aggregate group level saves 3,588 materials management hours and 1,550 OR labor hours yearly, gaining 3,916 procedures and saving CAD$1,070,609.

CONCLUSIONS : Comprehensive surgical pack use improves cataract and vit-ret surgery efficiency, saving substantial operating room and materials management time and cost in Canadian hospitals.