At one time, surgical packs were thought to be a luxury; surgical personnel often found it simpler and less costly to order individual supplies and pull them together as needed. But to handle expanding case volumes and the pace at which surgery is done in today's busy facilities, it's become far more practical and sometimes more cost-effective to order supplies in pre-configured packs. Several companies offer surgical packs; in this article we'll take a look at six of them and highlight some of the special services each company offers to help you choose which one may be right for your facility.

Customized control
Allegiance, a Cardinal Health company, offers a unique way to ensure that you get exactly what you order in your customized procedure packs. Through a Web-based program called Pack Manager, you can assemble packs online and make changes in either their content or configuration. The company will videotape how a particular pack is assembled so that you can see all the steps involved; a copy of the tape is also kept on the assembly line so that workers can refer to it while they are putting the packs together. The company also offers a line of pre-configured standard packs, which contain drapes, gowns, tubing, basins and other basic supplies.