I was surprised too, I worked on software for Surgery checklists a decade ago and thought it was standard practice and that only our digitization of it was new, the effects of a checklist have been known for quite a while now. The software I worked on would track every instrument and screw taken into a theatre (using hand scanners), the doctor would have his list of steps for the procedure and the equipment necessary, standard emergency packages were available for the exceptions, etc. It's not just for the direct patients either, some disease can survive instrument sterilization so knowing who else they've been used on can be important.
