Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
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8 6 O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 Saving money and reducing the landfill Let's start with the reprocessing device program. A Harmonic scalpel buyback program has produced the most dramatic, significant savings: in 1 year alone, $40,000 in instrument and waste-removal savings. After the Harmonic scalpel has been used, a nurse or a tech will place the device into a specially designated green bin. Weekly, a vendor rep col- lects the bin and leaves an empty one behind. The vendor then reprocesses the devices and sells them back to the surgery center for reuse, sharpened, cleaned and tested. "It's almost like a perfect instru- ment when it gets back to you," says Ms. Stengel. Before the buyback program started 2 years ago, OR staff would throw the Harmonic scalpels into a red sharps container, along with syringes, suture and glass vials. The key was educating staff to segre- gate the devices to be reprocessed into the green bins. Compliance has been outstanding. From August of last year to this year, Ms. Stengel cal- culates that the reprocessing program has saved her facility $37,000 in instrument purchasing and an additional $1,900 in landfill costs. "That's not pocket change," says Ms. Stengel. They also recycle and reuse pneumatic compression stockings. Ms. Stengel plans to broaden the reprocessing program by including other instruments. Fluid waste disposal The ASC reuses and recycles its fluid waste containers. The reprocessing staff store the filled containers in a large, gray, square container. Once the container is full — it can hold 8 or so containers — it's secured and sent to the trash room, and then shipped to a vendor that empties the con- tents, cleans and sterilizes the containers, and returns them to the facility. The ASC also saves on red-bag waste. By simply relocating the red trash bag to the other side of the room, Ms. Stengel says staff are less