How To Determine When To Sterilize Flexible Endoscopes

October 28, 2019 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

As the major endoscope manufacturers continue to work with regulators such as The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to improve the safety of their endoscopes, many possible long-term solutions have been raised for discussion. Some thought leaders say that improving current high-level disinfection (HLD) processes will improve safety significantly, while many other experts […]

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New Study Puts Price Tag of US Healthcare Waste At Nearly $1 Trillion

October 16, 2019 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) estimated the annual cost of waste in the US healthcare system between $760 billion to $935 billion. The study, conducted by researchers at Humana and UPMC, looked at 54 published reports that explored the costs of waste in US healthcare. As this

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ECRI Top Health Technology Hazards List Includes Poor Sterilization Practices

October 10, 2019 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

The ECRI Institute, based in Philadelphia, has just released its annual list of health technology hazards for 2020.  This year’s list includes an entry at number 3 for poor sterilization practices, echoing prior year concerns about sub-standard disinfection practices for flexible endoscopes. ECRI’s list is the result of extensive research by its own engineers, scientists

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A Scope Tracking Solution That Can Grow With Your Hospital

October 3, 2019 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

The Joint Commission (TJC), the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and several other regulatory and accreditation agencies have recently put more focus on flexible endoscopes in their guidance to US hospitals and surgery centers. It comes as no surprise, as over the last decade the number of reported outbreaks based on inadequately reprocessed

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Why Channel Drying Is So Crucial To Endoscope Infection Control

September 26, 2019 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

Because endoscopes are reusable medical instruments, one of their biggest risks is the very real possibility of passing diseases to patients through contact with inadequately disinfected scopes. Though the risk of passing diseases through scopes is relatively low, the danger is always there, especially when high-level disinfection (HLD) protocols aren’t closely followed. One area where

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How To Reduce Unnecessary Contact With Endoscopes Using RFID Technology

September 19, 2019 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

One of the biggest risks of using flexible endoscopes in healthcare stems from the reusable nature of the expensive instruments. Though the risk of passing disease on through endoscopes is relatively low, the danger is always there even when following the instructions for use provided by the manufacturers. The high-level disinfection process for medical endoscopes

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How To Use Predictive Analytics In The Hospital Supply Chain

October 12, 2021 / Big Data, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital IT, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

Many hospitals still rely on manual processes or antiquated technologies for managing their expensive supplies and implants. The concept of predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) in their supply chains may seem like a remote possibility, but this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Advances in hospital supply chain technologies over the last decade

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How To Link Patient Outcomes To Medical Devices Using UDI

September 10, 2019 / Big Data, Clinical Documentation, Hospital IT, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, Regulatory Compliance, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

The United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is touting the benefits of tying unique device identifiers (UDIs) on medical devices to patient outcomes via electronic medical records. UDIs have been a long-term dream for many in healthcare, who view the ability to track and trace medical devices using unique item-level codes as a true

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FDA Presses Industry To Use Duodenoscopes With Disposable Components

September 3, 2019 / Hospital Management, Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has begun its effort to move the US healthcare industry to use duodenoscopes with disposable components, such as end caps. The effort is being made to reduce the incidences of superbug transmissions through inadequately reprocessed duodenoscopes that have been reported in recent years. The FDA is urging

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How To Create A Culture Of Safety Across A Growing Health System

September 3, 2019 / Hospital IT, Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance, Tissue Management /

Hospitals continue to fight the trends of declining reimbursements and increasing expenses with a multi-pronged attack. One of the favorite tools of larger health systems that are staving off shrinking margins is hospital consolidation. The idea goes that as more hospitals are brought into the health system, efficiencies can be gained by sending less profitable

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