This study aimed to describe and analyze quality indicators of Central Sterile Supply Departments in Accredited Public Hospitals in São Paulo state and their management by those in charge of those departments. It is a multiple-case study, presenting interconnected data from three accredited hospitals in a report on cross-referenced cases. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews with the person in charge and by technical visits with documental analysis. Results showed the difficulty which those in charge have in identifying specific indicators for the department; the indicators mentioned relate to production and client satisfaction surveys, and do not describe the effective quality of the service, as they are fragmented and do not consolidate results in the search for improvement. This suggests low specificity and low sensitivity of the National Accreditation Organization criteria to this department's context.
Accreditation; Indicators of health services; Sterilization; Central supply, hospital