HealthLeaders Media
It’s no secret that healthcare facilities produce huge amounts of trash, specifically 6,600 tons per day, much of which ends up in landfills or in expensive incineration or autoclaving processes. About 70% of that comes from operating rooms and obstetric procedures.
But a study in the latest issue of Archives of Surgery by researchers at the University of Maryland’s Bloomberg School of Public Health says that with a little thought and planning, hospitals can realize billions in savings. Some of the waste is hazardous and must be properly and expensively disposed of, but some of it is actually harmless, they say…
…According to Makary, one in four U.S. hospitals and 2,700 ambulatory surgery centers use at least one type of reprocessed single-use device. For example, Ascent Healthcare Solutions in 2008 saved $138 million and avoided 1,950 tons of medical waste that otherwise would have had to be disposed of in landfills. While concerns remain over the safety of reusing reprocessed single-use devices, Makary says, to date, “the U.S. Government Accountability Office has found no evidence indicating that the use of reprocessed devices increases health risk.”…