From the April 2016 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
The downward pricing pressure brought to the device market by reprocessors has helped to lower the cost of new devices. American hospitals alone generate over 4 billion pounds of waste a year and regulated medical waste (RMW) can cost five to 10 times more to dispose of than regular solid waste. Many medical devices can be reprocessed multiple times, eliminating the needless generation of more RMW, but also reducing a hospital’s waste disposal costs.
Reprocessing has allowed some hospitals to divert over 8,000 pounds of RMW from landfills each year, while larger systems can divert more than 50,000 pounds. Groups like ANA, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) and Practice Greenhealth have recognized or endorsed reprocessing as an effective waste reduction strategy.
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The AMDR believes that the basis for the dramatic growth of SUD reprocessing, and broad clinical support, has been regulation. However, many countries do not yet have controls for proper SUD reuse. SUD reprocessing should not be taking place in the shadows without validated cleaning protocols or regulatory oversight. Thus AMDR supports worldwide efforts to regulate SUD reuse as a manufacturing activity, and a trend may be emerging. In 2015, both Canada and the United Kingdom released notice of their intentions to regulate SUD reprocessing as manufacturing, and the European Union is currently contemplating similar rules.
While AMDR is promoting regulating SUD reprocessing as manufacturing outside the
U.S., the recipe isn’t perfect yet — a few barriers to maximizing savings still exist for hospitals stateside. Reprocessing champions primarily need help navigating contracting hurdles from OEMs trying to limit reprocessing in an attempt to recoup profits lost to the practice. Even though competition is increasing between third-party reprocessors and OEMs, it’s an exciting time to be involved with, and advocating for, reprocessing growth. By restricting the reprocessing of SUDs to entities that can meet stringent manufacturing standards, subject to inspection and enforcement, health care regulators across the globe can stop inappropriate hospital reuse and give hospitals access to safe, regulated, lower-cost and environmentally friendly reprocessed devices.
Dan Vukelich, Esq., is president of the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors.
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