STERILE PROCESSING STERILE PROCESSING Neither here nor there
It’s the “how,” not the “where,” that determines reprocessing success by Kara Nadeau
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n 2022, a growing number of health sys- tems and hospitals seem to be shaking off the dust that has settled from the COVID- 19 pandemic and focusing their sights on the future of healthcare delivery. In the Central Service/Sterile Processing & Distribution (CS/SPD) department, this means forecasting future procedural volumes to determine whether current space, repro- cessing equipment, staffing, and device/ instrument inventory can support anticipated growth. This has led to an “a ha” moment for many who have determined that they need signifi cant transformation across all areas of sterile processing to support the future of clinical care.
While some health systems are investing
in current CS/SPDs to meet future demands, others are taking a different approach and either centralizing reprocessing to one hos- pital site that services all the others or mov- ing CS/SPD operations completely offsite outside of the hospital setting. With each of these models, health systems must balance the pros and cons of their chosen approach. “In the past year, I have come across several facilities that have changed their reprocessing strategy,” said Malinda Elammari, CST, CSPM, CSPDT, CFER, CSIS, CRCST, CIS, CHL, CER, CLSSGB, Clinical Education Specialist Healthmark Industries. “Some facilities have moved to onsite centralized processing, while others have moved entirely offsite. Regardless of which system the facil- ity chooses to utilize, each facility is unique in its approach and idea of the centralized concept.”
“There are advan- tages and disadvantages for each approach,” said Marcia Frieze, CEO, Case Medical. “When you con- sider efficiency, having a state-of-the-art instrument processing department in
certainly less instrument sets, because you do not need as much duplication to account for transport and travel time. Then having one location serving multiple facilities can reduce inventory and duplication of specialty sets and even equipment.”
Factors driving reprocessing location
Health systems and hospitals are shifting from onsite reprocessing at each facility to offsite centralized reprocessing for a variety of reasons, as Elammari explains: “Space, staff and standards are the three
signifi cant factors driving the health system to change to a centralized approach, I refer to this as the 3S effect. Larger systems seem to be shifting their focus to centralized planning. Such as a hospital system close to me that just opened their offsite facility roughly two months ago. Their driving factors are space limitations and volume growth. This offsite facility functions as a hybrid roll in conjunc- tion with its three main facilities and helps support numerous clinical sites.”
each facility allows for quicker turns and Marcia Frieze
Procedure volumes Healthcare facilities are performing a greater volume of more complex procedures with many CS/SPD departments struggling to keep up. “As the complexity of health system’s networks and surgeries themselves continue to increase, the demand on each facility’s sterile processing depart- ment is being pushed to do more in their existing space,” said Ash Crowe, Senior Project Manager, St. Onge Company. “Many Ambulatory Surgery Centers are now per- forming Ortho and other tray intensive cases with sterile processing departments designed for less instrument volume. Looking at the health system as a system and evaluating
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where best to reprocess instruments, either in a new centralized facility or by consolidat- ing makes sense.”
Standards and standardization A focus on standardization, recommended by industry guidelines and enforced by accreditation bodies, has been driving the move to centralized reprocess- ing for years, according to Seth Hendee, CRCST, CIS,
Seth Hendee
CHL, CER, CSPDT, CFER, HSPA Approved Instructor, Clinical Education Specialist, SPD, Healthmark Industries.
“When guidelines began stressing the importance of standardization of practice wherever instrument processing is being performed, survey organizations started looking for it,” said Hendee. “At that point, organizations had a choice to make; attempt to enforce compliance across all processing areas or centralize processing in a single location. The later seemed a logical choice for many.”
“Standards are playing a pivotal role in this movement,” Elammari added. “The recent increased focus on SPD means an increased focus on AAMI standards and increased awareness of the correct procedures and operations, causing facilities to reevaluate department layouts, equipment and policies.”
Specialized knowledge and training “The most prevalent example of the central- ized concept that I have come across is for complex specialty items such as fl exible scopes and robotics instruments,” said Elammari. As Frieze points out, the wide range of devices and instruments used in healthcare facilities today necessitate specialized CS/ SPD training and talent to properly reprocess. “There can be human error given all the varieties of devices from robotics to navigation equipment and certainly fl exible
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