Sterile Processing

Disposable designs will improve patient safety

How do we clean an instrument has always been the question of the day in sterile processing departments all over the world; the answer is to come. The sad truth is, in some instances, the cleaning process was derived from someone in leadership making up a rule.

When it comes to the culture of a hospital, nothing is as important as the employees who work for it and aim to provide excellent patient care. When it comes to a hospital's balance sheet, particularly the physical assets, nothing is as important as the actual hospital and other ancillary buildings.

There are many misconceptions about using ISOs for endoscope repair. Perhaps the one with wide-ranging implications is the misconception that using an ISO for service will invalidate the device’s 510K, instructions for use (IFU), or automated endoscope reprocessor (AER) validation.

Many of the regulatory and accreditation criteria for healthcare facilities relate to decontamination, sterilization and maintenance procedures. The standards often require hospital SPD, BMET, OR, Infection Control and other technicians to follow and have easy access to manufacturers’ directives regarding preparing and caring for their devices, equipment and systems.