FDA Issues Emergency Order Allowing Up To 4 Million Decontaminated N95 Masks Per Day

April 24, 2020 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an emergency order that allows hospitals and health systems to decontaminate N95 respirator masks up to 10 times before they are to be disposed. As hospitals are facing an extreme shortage of PPE due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this will be a welcome piece of […]

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Pittsburgh-Based Healthcare System Announces Program To Support N95 Mask Sterilization

April 16, 2020 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

Allegheny Health Network (AHN), an integrated healthcare delivery system based in Western Pennsylvania, announced that it has begun sterilizing N95 masks so they can be worn multiple times by hospital workers. As hospitals are facing an extreme shortage of PPE due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many are now implementing systems that will help them reprocess

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Mobile Aspects Announces System To Track Reprocessed Personal Protective Equipment Including N95 Masks

April 9, 2020 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Operational Efficiency, Patient Safety, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

Mobile Aspects, a leading provider of software for supply and asset tracking systems in hospitals, has announced a new product to help in the ongoing fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The company is building off of its 20-year history of delivering systems that help hospitals automate the tracking and documentation of supplies and assets within

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Hospitals Look To Reprocess N95 Masks Due To Covid-19 Related Shortage

April 2, 2020 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Operational Efficiency, Regulatory Compliance, Supply Chain /

In the ongoing battle against Covid-19, much of the US healthcare system has suffered from a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for its frontline employees. The shortage of this important protective gear has led to hospital workers being put in needless danger of catching the extremely communicable coronavirus. One company has been working on

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How Automated Endoscope Drying Cabinets Minimize Bacterial Growth

March 26, 2020 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

According to a recent study published in the American Journal of Infection Control, storing endoscopes in an automated cabinet with channel drying functionality effectively reduced bacterial growth in the scopes. Because endoscopes are reusable medical instruments, minimizing the amount of bacterial growth in the periods between procedures can dramatically improve patient safety. The study, performed

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How One Hospital Reduced Their Scope Reprocessing Times By Over 35 Percent

March 20, 2020 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Managing Endoscopes, Operational Efficiency /

Today’s Sterile Processing Department (SPD) managers function as business operators whose primary objective is to adhere to the highest standards of cleaning protocols. Their role is to focus not only on adherence to disinfection standards and requirements, but to operate with high speed and efficiency as well. Specific to endoscopic procedures, a critical requirement for

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ECRI List of Top Patient Safety Concerns Includes Sterile Processing

October 6, 2021 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

The ECRI Institute, based in Philadelphia, has just released its annual list of patient safety concerns for 2020.  This year’s list includes an entry at number 5 for device cleaning, disinfection and sterilization, echoing prior year concerns about sub-standard disinfection practices for flexible endoscopes and other reusable medical equipment. ECRI’s list is the result of

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Government Continues Scrutiny Of Hospital Accrediting Bodies

March 5, 2020 / Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Joint Commission, The Business of Surgery /

The government continues to question the neutrality of The Joint Commission (TJC) and other healthcare accreditation firms that also have consulting arms. In a recent speech Seema Verma, the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), said her organization is continuing to evaluate options to increase oversight of accrediting firms. CMS has

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A First Of Its Kind Solution For Tracking, Storing and Charging Vocera Badge Batteries

October 9, 2021 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital IT, Operational Efficiency, The Business of Surgery /

Many hospitals have implemented the Vocera platform to improve communications and connectivity among staff. The Badges and Smartbadges used with the Vocera platform allow clinical staff, who are typically busy rounding on patient floors and not tethered to a desk, to stay connected to their colleagues and discuss important items via calls or messages. One

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How One Hospital Optimized Their Staffing Levels Using Scope Tracking Software

February 13, 2020 / Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Managing Endoscopes, Operational Efficiency /

Many hospitals find it difficult to optimize staffing levels for their operations. This can be due to any number of variables that become even more extreme as the size of a hospital increases – an influx of patients can throw off carefully planned schedules; certain cases extend way past their estimated closing times; and missing

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