CS CONNECTION Gird yourself for endoscope product


design shifts by 2030 Newer models will be more of a ripple than a tidal wave, experts predict by Rick Dana Barlow


W Photo courtesy: Healthmark Industries


hat’s emerging in the endoscopic technology realm is not unlike what’s been transpiring in the


automotive industry.


When it comes to automobiles, consumers can choose between three types of automo- biles to drive – cars that run on gasoline, cars that run on a hybrid system of electricity and gas and cars that run on electricity. In the U.S. marketplace, surveys show, by and large, that gas-powered cars represent the largest percentage, followed by hybrids and then electric-powered models.


Similarly, healthcare organizations increasingly are being given the oppor- tunity to choose between three types of  eible and rigid endoscopes – those that are completely reusable, those that are completely disposable and those that could be called “hybrid” for infection control purposes because they are reusable devices with a select number of disposable compo- nents that can be discarded after use (e.g., distal covers and adaptors, etc.). With the advent and emergence of mini- mally invasive surgical techniques back in the 1980s, surgeons routinely used reus- able endoscopes in the operating room. But given the growing number of reports of cleaning, disinfection and sterilization challenges that have contributed to patient infections – some of which prove fatal in time – healthcare providers have been searching for something different. While reinforcing education, training and


certifi cation of sterile processing profes- sionals, switching the reporting of Sterile Processing & Distribution (SPD) to the OR, reassigning sterile processing responsibili- ties to dedicated Endoscopy departments, or changing the types of high-level disinfec- tion or sterilization procedures – including technologies – may be making a difference for a variety of healthcare organizations, more are looking at the devices themselves and turning to the device manufacturers to offer solutions.


Enter alternatives to reusable models that either fully embrace the single-use concept or merely incorporate disposable compo-


Photos courtesy: Healthmark Industries Page 30 Photo courtesy: Healthmark Industries hpnonline.com • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • November 2020 29


nents that can be swapped out even as the reusable framework remains. Healthcare Purchasing News has been


eploring the concept and emergence of single-use technology in endoscopy for sev- eral years now, locating startup companies looking to take the market by storm, but also gauging reactions of current endoscope manufacturers about this in u and poten- tial demand shift. Not surprisingly, endoscope manufactur- ers lean toward their “party line” in terms of product offerings, with the single-use product companies anticipating a complete market shift to disposables while those companies that manufacture reusable mod- els temper their epectations, acknowledg- ing that a minority of healthcare providers will embrace fully disposable models or reusable models with disposable compo- nents.


Further, they admit that the majority certainly are aware of and interested in the possibilities and prospects of altering their inventory mi. HPN reached out to more than a dozen eecutives at manufacturers of endoscope devices and related reprocessing supplies and equipment about their forecast of any market shift during the net  years. hey were able to choose from among fi ve differ- ent potential market scenarios and to share their reasoning.


1. Fully reusable endoscopes will remain. Healthcare organizations will con- tinue to rely on fully reusable  eible and rigid endoscopes for the majority of minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedures


2. Hybrid models will become a minority segment. Healthcare organizations will increasingly shift toward using hybrid  eible and rigid endoscopes that incor- porate disposable components that can be discarded after use, but the hybrid models I  surpass the use of fully reusable models


3. Hybrid models will become the major- ity. Healthcare organizations will increas- ingly shift toward using hybrid  eible and rigid endoscopes that incorporate disposable components that can be dis- carded after use, and the hybrid models WILL surpass the use of fully reusable models


4. Disposable/single-use only models will become a minority segment. Healthcare organizations will increasingly shift toward using fully disposable  eible and rigid endoscopes, but the disposable models I  surpass the use of fully reusable models


5. Disposable/single-use only models will become the majority. Healthcare orga- nizations will increasingly shift toward using fully disposable  eible and rigid endoscopes, and the disposable models


Bad transport and waiting examples


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