Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T04:55:59.706Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

When Sterile Processing Goes Down: An Economic Analysis of Alternative Strategies for Supporting the Service

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2017

Susan E. Mittenzwei ,
Jeannie L. Topkoff ,
Mary T. Bessesen ,
Clifford A. Porter ,
Gurdev S. Rai  and
Westyn Branch-Elliman
Susan E. Mittenzwei
Affiliation:
Departments of Nursing, Surgery, Anesthesia, and Medicine, Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, Colorado
Jeannie L. Topkoff
Affiliation:
Departments of Nursing, Surgery, Anesthesia, and Medicine, Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, Colorado
Mary T. Bessesen
Affiliation:
Departments of Nursing, Surgery, Anesthesia, and Medicine, Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, Colorado Departments of Medicine, Surgery and Anesthesia, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, Colorado
Clifford A. Porter
Affiliation:
Departments of Nursing, Surgery, Anesthesia, and Medicine, Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, Colorado Departments of Medicine, Surgery and Anesthesia, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, Colorado
Gurdev S. Rai
Affiliation:
Departments of Nursing, Surgery, Anesthesia, and Medicine, Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, Colorado Departments of Medicine, Surgery and Anesthesia, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, Colorado
Westyn Branch-Elliman*
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Boston Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, West Roxbury, Massachusetts Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
*
Address correspondence to Westyn Branch-Elliman, MD, MMSc, Boston Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, 1400 VFW Parkway, West Roxbury, MA 02132 ([email protected]).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Given steam-quality challenges at our facility, the financial impact of options for reopening the sterile processing service unit were explored; duration of closure was the major driver of costs. Other potential negative effects of operating-room shutdowns include injury to facility reputation, loss of staff, loss of reimbursements, and harm to residency programs.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:1002–1004

Type
Concise Communications
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 38 , Issue 8 , August 2017 , pp. 1002 - 1004
Copyright
© 2017 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Rutala, WA, Weber, DJ, and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. The Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. Guideline for Disinfection and Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities, 2008. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/hicpac/pdf/guidelines/Disinfection_Nov_2008.pdf. Published 2008. Accessed October 31, 2016.Google Scholar
2. Burlingame, B. Operating room requirements for 2014 and beyond. Facility Guidelines Update Series, Update no. 32014.Google Scholar
3. Chobin, N. The real costs of surgical instrument training in sterile processing revisited. AORN J 2010;92:185–193.Google Scholar
4. Chobin, N, Swanson, K. Putting patient safety first: the sterile processing department and healthcare technology management. Biomed Instr Technol 2012:27–31.Google Scholar
5. Hernandez, L. Denver VA medical center shuts down surgical unit due to problems with equipment sterilization. The Denver Channel (ABC News) website. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/denver-va-medical-center-shuts-down-surgical-unit-due-to-problems-with-equipment-sterilization. Published 2014. Accessed October 24, 2016.Google Scholar
6. Blackmore, CC, Bishop, R, Luker, S, Williams, BL. Applying lean methods to improve quality and safety in surgical sterile instrument processing. Joint Comm J Qual Patient Safety 2013;39:99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Adalja, AA, Watson, M, Bouri, N, Minton, K, Morhard, RC, Toner, ES. Absorbing citywide patient surge during Hurricane Sandy: a case study in accommodating multiple hospital evacuations. Ann Emerg Med 2014;64:66–73, e61.Google Scholar
8. Evans, M. More than a month after Sandy, five hospitals are still scrambling to repair damage and begin admitting patients again. Modern Healthcare website. http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20121208/MAGAZINE/312089991. Published 2012. Accessed October 31, 2016.Google Scholar
9. Punke, H. Detroit Medical Center’s Medicare funding at risk over sterilization issues. Becker Hospital Review website. http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/detroit-medical-center-s-medicare-funding-at-risk-over-sterilization-issues.html. Published 2016. Accessed October 24, 2016.Google Scholar