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 savings and 786 tons of avoided waste across its system through reprocessing in 2017.
Many hospitals are outsourcing the reprocessing of single-use devices to FDA-approved vendors including:
- Ultrasound and electrophysiology catheters and cables
- Endoscopic devices and arthroscopic and laparoscopic instruments (scalpels, trocar components, cutters, sealers, ablators, tips, passers, dissectors, graspers, scissors, clamps, biopsy forceps, and snares)
- Orthopedic bits, saws, burrs and blades, and external fixation components
- Deep vein thrombosis compression sleeves
- Tourniquets/BP cuffs, infusion pressure bags (reusable preferred)
- Pulse oximetry sensor (reusable preferred)
- Balloon inflation devices, femoral compression devices
Practice Greenhealth offers resources to help members develop proactive frameworks for managing medical device reprocessing in a thoughtful way and helps them navigate some of the common hurdles encountered. Our goal is to provide step-by-step resources that make it simpler for any hospital to design, implement, and measure the success of reprocessing initiatives.
