Fierce Healthcare: Squandering Supplies: Hospitals Could Trim Costs by Cutting Medical Waste (07/07/10):
It’s healthcare’s dirty little secret. Every year, tons of unused disposable medical devices and supplies and equipment that could be recycled are tossed into the trash. Consider it money down the drain.
But a new movement is afoot to reduce medical waste, according to the New York Times.
Read more: Squandering supplies: Hospitals could trim costs by cutting medical waste – FierceHealthcare http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/squandering-supplies-hospitals-could-trim-costs-cutting-medical-waste/2010-07-06?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss#ixzz0t0dxwTb7
Subscribe: http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/signup?sourceform=Viral-Tynt-FierceHealthcare-FierceHealthcareMore than 1,000 hospitals and 80 companies belong to Practice Greenhealth, a nonprofit group based in Reston, Va., that is trying to help shrink the environmental footprint of healthcare institutions. Belt-tightening hospitals looking for ways to cut costs should also be open to cutting waste by going green. One way is to recycle disposable single-use medical devices. A few reprocessing companies will take your disposables, including orthopedic drill bits and heart-monitoring catheters. After cleaning, recalibrating, repackaging and resterilizing them, the reprocessor sells them back to hospitals and medical suppliers for 40 to 60 percent of the original price.