Opportunity for Change 

Surgeon preference cards play a central role in OR efficiency, resource planning, and surgical safety. Yet across the industry, these cards are often outdated, bloated, or inaccurate leading to wasted supplies, excess costs, and avoidable staff burden.

Providence sought to change this by building an intelligent, systemized framework for surgeon preference card optimization at scale, using data, automation, and operational visibility.

Context

Outdated preference cards drive waste, cost, and clinical burden.

Surgeons may update their preferences frequently, but operative workflows and supply systems struggle to keep pace. Without structured review tools:

• Cards fill up with rarely used surgical items, driving avoidable waste
• Usage and waste data sits scattered across systems, hiding what each case needs
• The true costs in labor, revenue, and emissions stay buried, never measured or managed

Operational consequences multiply:

• Labor hours consumed in unnecessary picking and reprocessing
• Lost revenue due to expired products
• Higher greenhouse gas emissions from unnecessary sterilization cycles

As surgical demand grows, manual and fragmented card management cannot support reliable OR efficiency.

Our Approach

Providence developed a unified, data-driven approach to optimize surgeon preference cards using automation, utilization insights, and integrated decision support.

This framework:

• Flags rarely used surgical items for removal, cutting waste right at the source
• Brings scattered usage and waste data into one platform, giving clear visibility into what each case needs
• Links every card to its real cost, making the financial and environmental impact visible and manageable
• Captures key data, tracking card activity, item usage and waste, and the full cost impact across labor, revenue, and environmental footprint, all in one view.

This creates a single view of the true operational footprint of surgical preparation.

Transformative Outcomes

Savings (One Hospital)

• 35% reduction in surgeon preference cards (1,454 retired)
• 37% reduction in line items (39,000+ items removed)

Operational Efficiency Gains

• 1,456 labor hours saved per year from streamlining instrument lists

Environmental Impact

• ~495,000 kWh energy savings/year
• ~850 metric tons CO₂e reduction/year

These outcomes demonstrate improvements not only in cost and efficiency, but also in sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Impact in practice

By modernizing how surgeon preference cards are reviewed and optimized, Providence is reshaping surgical operations, reducing burden on perioperative teams, improving accuracy, and cutting millions of dollars in waste.

This intelligent, data-driven approach ensures that every case is prepared with exactly what is needed, unlocking measurable financial, operational, and environmental impact across surgical services.