SPECIAL FOCUS tive. The excuse that disposables should


be used to avoid the risk of inadequate reprocessing is often an excuse for poor technician performance, staff/ equip- ment shortages, poor training and/or management support and should not be accepted. SPD staff reprocess millions of items daily. If there are errors made, one should look at the systems, manage- ment and staffing to determine why the error occurred and correct the problem. If we cant trust SD to process one item


effectively, how can we be confident in any of the wor lternatively, imagine a system where every medical instrument was disposable. Imagine the impact that this would have on our environment and associated costs.” goston recommends homing in on reusable equipment and supplies. Facilities that I am familiar with that reprocessed N95 masks labeled them with the name of the user so that the user received their mask back and not some-


When Clean Counts


MOST ™


one elses. ven with this, there was still great apprehension in reusing the single- use devices, he observed. There was also apprehension by the staff who was responsible for transporting and repro- cessing the mas. This latter concern was more related to the processes being new and unproven versus fear of handling con- taminated items as hospital staff – includ- ing SPD – handle contaminated items all of the time. I believe that the pandemic has created an opportunity for industry to look at all disposable devices to see if there is a way to mae them reusable or perhaps a version that has a reusable component and a small disposable component.” ny optimal solution will center on the financials and total costs of ownership, goston acnowledges. conomics will determine what is best,” he said. “For disposables, they tend to have lower purchase prices than a reus- able device, but have a much higher cost of disposal. There also are the reoccurring costs associated with the purchase order process and costs for inventory manage- ment, etc. Reusable devices tend to have higher purchase prices and a reprocess- ing, repair and disposal cost. The overall costs of ownership should include all costs divided by the number of uses to determine the total cost per use.” goston warns that the industry should anticipate the reality of the next pandemic and prepare now. hether reusable or disposable or a combination, Supply Chain managers should evaluate total cost per use, current and future needs and build stoc to avoid shortages when the next pandemic or disaster strikes. Hav- ing dependable manufacturing capabil- ity and logistic systems are a must,” he added. HPN


*


Editor’s Note: Healthmark Industries rec- ommended the following podcasts as useful references: • Finding a Safe and Effective Way to Process PPE. Two physicians from the University of Michigan Medicine, share their story of multidisciplinary collaboration that led to findin the saest and most eec- tive way to process N95 masks: https://pod. cohmarkfindinasaeandeectie way-to-process-ppe


• Interview with Michelle Hoste. Michelle Hoste, SPD Manager and military veteran shares how her team collaborated with other departments and Infection Control to come up with a way to safely process N95 masks, keeping their frontline equipped with the PPE they need to combat the pandemic: https://pod.co/hmark/6-bonus-episode- interview-with-michelle-hoste


18 February 2021 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • hpnonline.com


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