Managing Endoscopes

How Biomedical Engineering Can Help In The Fight Against Hospital Acquired Infections

Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs) continue to be a focus area for hospital departments such as infection control and sterile processing departments.  Infection control has been a key area of focus by many US hospitals due to the huge financial and reputational risk that exists when an outbreak of a superbug occurs in a hospital.  Biomedical […]

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4 Steps To Increase Patient Safety In Your Hospital

Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

Hospitals continue to pursue patient safety initiatives as part of the overall shift in US Healthcare from volume to value.  After all, hospital acquired infections (HAIs) quickly increase the cost of a procedure and will directly affect your bottom-line.  This is on top of any damage to your hospital’s reputation that may occur from an

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Interview with Damien Berg – Sterile Processing Expert, Candidate for IAHCSMM President

Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

I recently had a chance to sit down with Damien Berg.  Damien is the Manager of Sterile Processing at St. Anthony Hospital in Colorado, and he is running for IAHCSMM President-Elect in this year’s election.  As the election is already underway, I wanted to sit down with Damien to understand his platform and interest in

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Why The Joint Commission Is Hung Up On Scopes

Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Operating Rooms, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

In recent surveys, The Joint Commission has scrutinized the entire endoscope management process. Everyone understands this is because of the serious patient safety concerns and media attention, as well as the manufacturers of scopes and reprocessors having their own product challenges. So why is The Joint Commission so hung up on how scopes are hung

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Is Your Endoscope Management Practice Accountable?

Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

In working with various hospitals across the country, particularly with their scope management practice, we are seeing that all caregivers absolutely have the intention of delivering at the highest level of quality and safety. As organization leaders, it is our job to help our team members meet these important goals. In working with these provider

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Olympus Scopes Tied To Another Outbreak

Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

Newly found evidence has revealed that Olympus duodenoscopes have been tied to another infection outbreak.  Per the report filed with the FDA, a foreign facility saw five of its patients who were treated with Olympus duodenoscopes infected with Klebsiella pneumoniae.  The facility’s name and location were not included in the report, however it was reported

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Are Duodenoscopes Safe To Use?

Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

Many eyebrows were raised following 2016’s recall of duodenoscope model TJF-Q180V by Olympus.  The voluntary recall was intended to replace the problematic elevator channel sealing mechanisms in the 4,400 Olympus duodenoscopes that were issued prior to 510k clearance for the device.  Olympus planned to complete the recall by August 2016 and also planned to conduct

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ECRI List of 2017 Patient Safety Concerns Includes Inadequate Safety and Quality Systems

Hospital Management, Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

ECRI Institute’s annual list of patient safety concerns has been released.  One concern missing from the list that has been a staple for several years is the infection risk associated with inadequate cleaning of flexible endoscopes. With the number of incidences being reported by hospitals and the associated changes to scopes being issued by the

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List of Top 10 Patient Safety Issues For 2017 Includes Scope Reprocessing

Infection Control, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety /

The editorial team at the Becker’s Infection Control & Clinical Quality website unveiled its top 10 patient safety issues for 2017.  Their list was based on study findings and trends over the last year. Sterilization and reprocessing issues represented one of the issues on the list. It’s no surprise to anyone in the industry that

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The Joint Commission Survey From a Hospital COO’s Perspective

Hospital Management, Infection Control, Joint Commission, Managing Endoscopes, Patient Safety, Regulatory Compliance /

Recently, I had a chance to sit down with a couple of Chief Operating Officers (COOs) from hospital clients who use the iRIScope system from Mobile Aspects. The system was developed to help hospitals improve patient safety and documentation around flexible endoscope usage. According to the COOs, this has become a hot topic due to

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