Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
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6 1 J U N E 2 0 1 4 | O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E recycling program to collect plastics, papers and other supplies free of infectious materials, you're paying more to pollute more. Experts say the No. 1 thing you can do today to significantly decrease your volume of medical waste is to properly segregate waste. Simply train your staff to be mindful of the 2 kinds of disposal bags used to separate waste — red bags for infectious and pathologic waste, and clear bags for non-infectious waste. As much as 90% of what ends up in red bags does not meet the criteria for red-bag waste, which of course costs far more to process, says Martin A. Makary, MD, MPA, an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md. Items that don't belong in red trash (unless soiled with blood or body fluid, including fecal material) include food wrappers, beverage containers, patient gowns or drapes, gloves, and empty IV bags and used tubing. Dr. Makary and his team of researchers studied how surgical teams disposed of waste and found that even though hazardous and infec- tious waste makes up only 24% of medical waste, it accounts for 86% of disposal costs. He suggests you make clear plastic bags more readi- ly available during surgical preparation and then replace them with red bags just before the patient is wheeled into the OR, when most red-bag waste is generated. And don't be afraid to do a little trash- picking. A great way to educate your staff is to remove items from the red bag that don't belong there ("Is this soda can infectious waste?") and to remove discarded items that can be recycled. G O I N G G R E E N Did You Know? Experts say healthcare facilities are second only to the food industry in con- tributing to waste products in the United States, producing more than 6,600 tons per day and more than 4 billion pounds annually. Operating rooms and labor-and-delivery suites together account for nearly 70% of hospital waste. OSE_1406_part2_Layout 1 6/13/14 11:40 AM Page 61