When I started my OR career, surgical preference cards were hoarded and treated as if they were gold or diamonds. Each nurse had to glean what each provider preferred in supplies and setup, and heaven forbid they share that knowledge with coworkers. Since then, physician preference cards and a more supportive nursing culture have come a long way.
These precious cards are now uniquely positioned to show actual case costing and assist the clinician in completing the electronic health record.
I was told by a wonderful preceptor to think of preference cards for surgery as the surgeon’s recipe card. It should include all the necessary “ingredients” and explain how to assemble them. It should consist of the preferred oven temperature (OR), the music to play, and the bowl and utensils needed for preparation. This explanation has stuck with me. However, as with all good recipes, I have added my spin.
What Are Surgery Preference Cards?
Today, surgical preference cards are critical data tools that connect inventory, case costing, and documentation across the entire perioperative workflow. These digital “recipes” are shaping how ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and hospitals manage efficiency, control expenses, and enhance surgical outcomes.
Modern surgical preference card software allows every ingredient in that “recipe” to be captured electronically, standardized, and updated in real time. A surgical preference card template ensures each surgeon’s workflow is documented consistently while keeping data structured for analytics and compliance.
What Should Surgical Preference Cards Include and How Can They Improve OR Efficiency?
Before exploring specific best practices, let’s understand what surgical preference cards are meant to achieve. At their core, they serve as standardized guides that document everything a surgeon and care team need to complete a procedure safely and efficiently.
Surgery Preference Cards Must Include the Prices and Location of Goods
Supplies are the second-most-expensive item in a surgery center’s budget, behind only personnel. Including costs on surgical preference cards can help maintain better inventory control and provide data for accurate case costing. This level of transparency will encourage staff to open items only as needed (instead of opening all supplies onto the back table at the start) and help drive cost accountability across the perioperative team:
- Nurses (circulators and scrub nurses): By seeing the cost of items, nursing staff can prioritize opening only necessary supplies. Circulators can advocate for “needs-based” setup protocols rather than the traditional “open everything” approach, directly reducing unused waste.
- Scrub technicians: Scrub techs, who are hands-on with the inventory during setup, gain immediate insight into the value of the supplies. This promotes the thoughtful selection of disposable items and instruments, minimizing unnecessary costs for items that are opened but never used or sterilized.
- Anesthesia providers: Knowing the cost of anesthesia-related disposable supplies, such as specific airway tools or monitoring lines, encourages providers to consider cost-effective alternatives when clinically appropriate, especially in high-volume, repetitive procedures.
- Surgeons: Providing surgeons with real-time cost data for their preferred instruments, implants, and specialty items facilitates data-driven discussions. This transparency allows them to compare their procedural costs with national benchmarks, encouraging voluntary standardization or the selection of equivalent, lower-cost supplies when medical necessity allows.
When linked to an ASC’s management system, a surgery preference card template can display real-time supply pricing and automate case costing. The ability to compare physician preference cards side by side supports data-driven discussions about cost variation, resource utilization, and efficiency improvements across specialties.
Accurate Surgical Preference Cards Allow the Materials Manager to Make Smarter Choices
Accurate preference cards for surgery will allow the Materials Manager to predict what is needed and when to order based on the scheduled patients. Most centers lack the storage space to maintain par levels for more than a week/month of supplies. “Just in time” ordering, which is standard practice, reflects the predicted needs based on the scheduled cases and ultimately the associated surgery preference cards.
This can save your ASC significant money by reducing wasted/expired items sitting on shelves. You won’t end up ordering supplies that a surgeon has decided to stop using, as all Preference Cards are up to date.
Leveraging an EHR Will Make Sure Your Surgical Preference Cards Are Accurate
How can we make sure the cards are up to date? It requires constant staff participation, which has been the weakest link. The team is busy with patient care. While the thought may cross their minds that the physician’s preference card is inaccurate, it will slip away as the following case starts.
Keeping their interest in card upkeep as high as possible is essential; plus, their involvement is in their own best interest. EHRs continue to push hard into the ASC space. Leveraging your EHR to assist in accurate, rapid charting via the preference card will accomplish that goal.
Correct preference cards populate the chart with items such as solutions, implants, equipment, and dressings, saving the circulator time. A bonus? All the items are then captured in the “Supplies Used” column for easy inventory management, actual case costing, billing, and even contract negotiations.
How to Keep Surgical Preference Cards Up to Date
The most successful ASCs treat their surgery preference cards as living documents. Regular audits, staff feedback, and analytics reviews help identify discrepancies between what is documented and what is actually used in the OR. Establishing ownership for each surgical preference card ensures accountability and continuous improvement. Teams can also use a surgery preference card template to streamline updates and ensure consistency across procedures and specialties.
Why Are Surgery Preference Cards Essential for ASC Cost Efficiency?
Up-to-date surgical preference cards, especially when integrated with your EHR system, are essential tools for strengthening analytics, streamlining workflows, and improving accuracy in ambulatory surgery centers.
When every supply, implant, and instrument is current and automatically recorded, charting becomes faster and more reliable. This efficiency allows clinical staff to focus on patient care while simultaneously reducing waste, preventing inventory errors, and keeping overall costs under control.
Supported by analytics and integrated software, preference cards transform from simple checklists into dynamic tools for quality and cost control. Modern preference card templates make this process consistent, measurable, and easy to maintain, protecting your margins while enhancing operational performance.
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