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Single-use medical devices make up a significant amount of the operating room supply budget and costly regulated medical waste generated by operating rooms every day. Working with a third-party reprocessor to safely collect and purchase these reprocessed devices is one of the biggest opportunities for cost savings and waste reduction in the operating room.
All reprocessing must be done by an FDA-approved vendor according to strict guidelines, including a requirement that every reprocessed device is function tested to guarantee safety and reliability.
HCA Healthcare estimates $29 million in… Read More
Type: Basic page
Regulated medical waste (RMW) is regulated at the state level, with each state defining what material is legally considered to be RMW (also called infectious waste, biohazardous waste or special medical waste (depending on the state) within its borders. The state regulation also typically lays out the appropriate or acceptable treatment or disinfection methods for different classes of medical waste, as well as the proper storage, labeling, manifesting and disposal requirements for RMW. The agency defining RMW can vary by state but is typically the state department of health or the state… Read More
Type: Resources
Seeking ways to reduce waste during a pandemic may feel like an impossible or unimportant task, but it is more important than ever. Greenhouse gas emissions from waste represent 1-5% percent of U.S. emissions, and hospitals produce an average of 30 pounds of waste per patient per day. Most hospitals are experiencing an increase in waste during the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily due to the increased use of disposable PPE. During times of crisis, health systems are under intense pressure to serve the community while remaining financially viable. Waste reduction offers hospitals an opportunity to… Read More
Type: Press
Our waste tracker tool will help you to conduct a baseline audit and track progress going forward. Utilizing this tool, you will be able to track your food waste streams, determine the monetary value of what is wasted, and identify opportunities for reducing waste.
Type: Resources
Increased awareness around the presence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water has resulted in closer scrutiny and increased regulatory oversight of pharmaceutical waste. Evidence of feminization of fish raised a red flag and resulted in more studies, closer scrutiny, and concern for human health and the environment. The U.S. Geological Survey has done extensive work to characterize the kinds and volumes of pharmaceuticals ending up in waterways. Learn more at U.S. Geological Survey's Emerging Contaminants Project.
While hazardous pharmaceutical waste management is a headline news item at… Read More
Type: Resources
To become a more sustainable organization, Spectrum Health hired a sustainability coordinator to address recycling. Spectrum Health’s goal was to reduce its overall waste stream by 30 percent by focusing on regulated medical waste reduction and recycling efforts.
Type: Resources
By Julie Moyle, MSN, RN Outreach and Engagement Specialist
General anesthesia administered during surgical/interventional procedures typically includes the administration of anesthesia gases. Only about 5 percent of administered anesthesia gas is metabolized by the patient, while the other 95 percent is expired by the patient during respiration. To protect personnel in the OR from being exposed to the anesthesia gas, a breathing circuit and dedicated HVAC vacuum line (usually purple in color) diverts or “scavenges” the unmetabolized waste anesthetic gas (WAG) from the patient and vents or… Read More
Type: Press
Recent hospital data demonstrates that recycling in the OR can generate large volumes of recyclables—in excess of 1000lbs of medical plastics weekly at one large NYC institution with more than 40 ORs/surgical procedure areas. At an average cost of $121 per ton for solid waste disposal and a price tag of $68 per ton for recycling the same material a hospital might pay nearly twice the price for medical plastics disposal if the facility does not choose to recycle.
There are several finite steps an organization can follow to set up and implement a medical plastics recycling program in the OR…
Type: Resources
Gundersen Health System is building upon its successful pharmaceutical waste collection program with separate medication disposal containers for public use.
Gundersen is providing three medication drop boxes for patient, visitor and employee use. The boxes are located in the following areas on Gundersen campuses during normal Pharmacy business hours:
Gundersen La Crosse Clinic Pharmacy
Gundersen East Building Pharmacy
Gundersen Onalaska Clinic Pharmacy retail area
“Gundersen has had a pharmaceutical waste collection program in place for several years, but this initiative takes the program… Read More
Type: Press
Practice Greenhealth member NYU Langone implements a comprehensive waste management and recycling program
Waste is a common challenge for health care organizations, no matter their size.
Waste is complex and expensive to manage. Hospitals that look upstream by studying incoming material and then reduce both inputs and outputs together see greater reductions in total waste costs which is exactly what the Material and Waste Stream Assessment assists hospitals in performing.
This engagement will consist of three distinct deliverables:
Material and waste assessment with environmental… Read More
Type: Basic page
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