In our ortho industry, we spend an incredible amount of time obsessing over implant geometry, surface coatings, and robotic precision. But if you walk down to the hospital basement—into the humid, high-pressure environment of the Sterile Processing Department (SPD)—you’ll find the real bottleneck.
It’s a $49B problem that most of the industry has ignored: surgical instrument waste.
I recently sat down with Chris Runnells, CEO of IntraLogic Health, on BoneChat (Episode #88) to dive into their NexSys technology. If you haven’t heard of them yet, pay attention. They are tackling the "up the clean and dirty elevator" logistics nightmare with a level of surgical-grade RFID precision that I haven’t seen before.
The Problem: A "Black Hole" for Assets
The stats are staggering. One in four trays enters the OR with missing or incorrect tools. Hospitals routinely sterilize 78% to 87% of instruments that are never even touched during a case. This isn't just "inefficiency"—it’s a massive drain on hospital margins, surgeon morale, and patient safety.
As Chris pointed out during our chat, when a surgeon throws a "sticky note" on an instrument saying they never want ...
