D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 2 9
H
as the time come to acknowledge that sterilization,
and not just high-level disinfection, is what's called
for in endoscope reprocessing? "The evidence sug-
gests that current IFUs and standards aren't rigorous
enough," says Cori Ofstead, MSPH, president and
CEO of healthcare research company Ofstead & Associates in St.
Paul, Minn. "And we now know that they weren't based on real-world
evidence of effectiveness."
When we asked a panel of more than 200 Outpatient Surgery
Magazine readers how confident they were that their facility will never
be the source of an endoscopy-related outbreak, 29% said they were
Is It Time to
Sterilize Endoscopes?
A much-needed higher standard may be on
the horizon.
Jim Burger | Senior Editor
• FALSE CONFIDENCE? Evidence sug-
gests that current IFUs and standards aren't
rigorous enough to ensure that endoscopes
are adequately reprocessed, say experts.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
