A brief survey of the “art” of reprocessing recalling its history and background through guidelines on a national and international basis. A focus on reprocessing as part of the concept of patient safety and risk management principles towards the goal of reducing HAIs correlated to inadequate procedures.
Guidelines are instruments which have a strategic role in medicine and practices; a brief focus on how these may positively affect the entire cycle and outcomes in terms of patient safety.
Correct reprocessing has a sure effect on reducing SSIs in many procedures such as in MIS and robotics and operative endoscopy.
Training on Reprocessing phases – following standards and guidelines. Importance of observation & practical (hands-on) training to improve and accelerate knowledge. Reviewing the steps by practical observations offers a direct means for focusing on specific aspects and stimulates question-asking.
Reprocessing and risk management are strictly connected, and the aims are to implement patient safety in healthcare fields and specialties as surgery and endoscopy.
The challenges may be recognizing correct reprocessing as a “must” and as a best practice therefore provides a “bundle” of actions to be observed and performed in order to consolidate reprocessing as a means of infection prevention and control.
This is the first webinar dedicated to “Challenges of Medical Device Reprocessing”, presented by ASP Continuous Education.
23rd of June 2021
• Emergency medicine and trauma surgeon.
• Clinical Risk Manager Florence Healthcare Service –Italy
• Member of Tuscany Regional Center for Patient Safety and risk management
• Secretary General of The Italian Network For Safety in Healthcare (INSH) – Italian Branch of ISQua
• Italian Ministry of Health Consultant for Sentinel Events analysis
• Scientific consultant for Patient Safety Issues of the Italian Society of Digestive Endoscopy
• Professor of Clinical Risk Management University of Florence School of Medicine and Nursing.
MESSAGES
- Guidelines must be applied and reviewed periodically; major updating assures accountability
- Correct reprocessing steps and their knowledge are weapons against HAIs and assure patient trustworthiness in healthcare institutions.
- No need for a “defensive medicine” attitude; claims and lawsuits may be reduced by a correct understanding and application of reprocessing steps and milestones.
- Transparency and good communications to patients may increase affordance and help to reduce litigations.
- Reprocessing is to be regarded as a “best practice” in the field of infection prevention and control and many clinical audits should be performed to understand criticalities and implement improvement strategies on an organizational basis.
