instructions or repair company's policy, and sent in for fixing.
Safer scopes
Implementing new equipment and tools to help your reprocessing
techs effectively clean endoscopes is an important step toward
improving patient safety. Before starting any new process, perform a
risk assessment with a multi-disciplinary team, and review it routinely.
It's important to define on which scopes and how frequently you'll
perform enhanced reprocessing protocols.
Any cleaning verification program or enhancement to leak testing
should be added to your existing reprocessing steps and done in
accordance to manufacturers' instructions for use. Develop a detailed
plan, including staff education, for incorporating these tools and tests
into your endoscope reprocessing practices. Communicate the plan
clearly to the reprocessing team, and record the results of the tests
and channel inspections to identify trends and gaps. Combining all of
these elements will strengthen your endoscope reprocessing program
and promote safe patient care.
OSM
O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 0 1
Ms. Sonstelie (alison.sonstelie@sanfordhealth.org) is the supply chain opera-
tions manager at Sanford Health in Fargo, N.D., and president of NoCoast
Consulting, which provides services to sterile processing professionals.
