A new generation of chiropractors has surfaced in the healthcare space and is looking ahead to the future of medicine. This generation is turning to disposable medical devices because of their endless benefits. Here are the greatest insights we found from this group:
1. Healthcare Costs on the Rise
"Reprocessing medical devices may have been a long-standing best practice in the medical industry, but as healthcare costs continue to rise, medical facilitators are turning to disposable medical devices, a more cost-effective, reliable solution compared to reprocessed devices". Remington Medical.
It's no secret to anyone working in the healthcare space, that healthcare costs are continuing to rise, especially nowadays with Covid-19 as a strong variable for changes in healthcare utilization and processes (as reported by Health Affairs in late 2020). “The full impact of the pandemic on the healthcare sector is still not known, but it will certainly have profound consequences on the provision and consumption of healthcare in 2020, astounding increment in 2021 and perhaps beyond.” Anne Martin, Economist for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said.
2. Add Reprocessing and Sterilization costs...
Medical device reprocessing plays a crucial factor in the increase of medical facilitator healthcare costs.
"According to a study released by Rady Children’s Hospital, medical device reprocessing, including maintenance, packaging, labor, and high-level disinfection, costs approximately $0.51 to $0.77 per instrument. The study also found that only 13% to 21.9% of opened instruments are ultimately used. When reusable medical equipment is opened for a surgical procedure, all instruments are exposed and must be decontaminated, re-assembled, and sterilized. If you don’t use the instrument, you are still required to pay the administration costs of reprocessing the device". Remington Medical.
Disposable medical devices do not require specific and sophisticated equipment/substances to be adequately cleaned and sterilized. Plus, all the energy required to make steam, the use of potentially hazardous chemicals (which impact the environment), and the operation of machinery and staff required for sterilization will all be saved when using disposable medical devices.
3. Time consumption
Not only is medical device reprocessing adding to the increase in cost, but medical device sterilization is a time-consuming, labor-intensive process that requires detailed steps for ensuring patient safety every day, all day (i.e, initial decontamination and cleaning blood, tissue, and other contaminants, transferring to reprocessing work area where they are cleaned again, disinfection and/or sterilization, packaging, storage, etc.).
Due to the high average cost and time-consuming steps for medical device reprocessing, reusing medical equipment is becoming obsolete. Device reprocessing is not only costly and time-consuming but continuing to reprocess the same device over and over increases the chance of the device failing (either for malfunction or unsuccessful sterilization), putting the patient at risk.
Top healthcare facilities and hospitals are realizing that the sterilization method for reusable medical devices is not cost-efficient or productive. As a result, medical facilitators are turning to single-use medical devices or disposable medical equipment to improve cost-effectiveness without compromising quality.
Disposable medical devices save time, money, and staff required to reprocess medical products: Manpower costs to reprocess the instrument, the cost of staff to arrange for reprocessing to take place, and the collection, and reassembling of instruments.
With NAD PINWHEEL INC. you can eliminate single-use product reprocessing and labor costs when using our Wartenberg disposable Pinwheels. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you eliminate medical device reprocessing costs and improving patient safety. Join the new generation now! and #maketheswitch. NPI
NAD PINWHEEL INC. Respectfully shares sections from the Remington Medical Article on The Benefits of Disposable Medical Devices to provide our visitors with information regarding the many benefits of using single-use medical devices. For more information on the subject, please go to https://remmed.com/disposable-medical-device-benefits/