Over the past month or two, we’ve learned that several facilities and health care systems have standardized on using germicides, environmental wipes, that EPA consider pesticides for cleaning our containers and other medical devices. Most of these disinfectant wipes are carriers for highly caustic solutions with pH >11 or composed of quaternary compounds considered hazardous to human health. And they are not rinsed off!...
I spent this past weekend watching a Netflix serial about the Innocence Project. A dedicated team of investigators and lawyers work to exonerate individuals who have been wrongly convicted, through the use of DNA testing. Did you know that people have blind spots? Of course we do. What is meaningful to one person can be disturbing to another...
The news cycle has been dominated by headlines that are talking about AI and it’s potential to reshape the way we live and work. What many people don’t realize is that we have been developing and using machine learning tools at Case Medical long before it was popularized in the news cycle...
What’s going on? Off label use of germicides without rinsing, damaged and pitted medical devices, and stripped sterilization containers with white powder residue... I’ve had an opportunity to visit several health care facilities and hopefully provide some ideas for improvement of process and product. ...
This is too frequently a tactic used in politics, business, commerce, and in the health care industry to create doubt about a product or service, even a person’s best intentions. Last week, we discussed how science experiments utilize both positive and negative controls. We pointed out how process indicators used to monitor both cleaning and sterilization efficacy also serve to alert us to failures that then need to be investigated...
A few times a month, I hear from a sales rep or a user about a failed wash indicator. It must be the indicator…can’t be our process and equipment. NO WAY!!! No one wants to learn that something is out of sync. This is especially troublesome when another indicator passes and our Case Soil indicator shows residue on the coupon, a failure...
Loaners play an important role in the modern healthcare system. Instrument sets are very expensive, and a healthcare facility doesn’t always have the budget to purchase them outright. This is especially true for highly specialized instrument sets, that aren’t often used but are still expensive to purchase...
Before the advent of computers, everything was done on paper; there was simply no other choice. Computers were supposed to change that, with their interconnectivity and programs like Microsoft Office that allowed users to write and send documents digitally. However, the opposite proved to be true...
The Digital Revolution, also known as the Third Industrial Revolution, refers to the advancement of technology from analog electronics and mechanical devices to the digital technology available today...
The use of adhesives and stickers on containers and medical devices has become a potential problem. Issues with residue on devices have led to a surge in citations from The Joint Commission for facilities not properly removing adhesive labels and the associated residue...