Getinge solutions help German hospital achieve 40 percent time savings
Since the SRH Klinikum Karlsbad-Langensteinbach in Germany installed Getinge’s sterile reprocessing solutions, the hospital has achieved time and cost savings as well as improved safety for patients and employees. The reprocessing batch time for complex spinal surgery instruments has been reduced with 40 percent to less than an hour.
Every year, around 33,000 items from six operating rooms are reprocessed at the SRH Klinikum Karlsbad-Langensteinbach. The complex instruments from the highly specialized spinal surgery unit are among the daily challenges for the Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) team.
Reducing pre-cleaning to a minimum has been a focus area in order to protect employees from aerosol formation.
"The new devices must take over this work and Getinge provides a custom-fit solution for enclosing the spinal surgery instruments securely. This enables hard-to-reach areas to be properly cleaned and disinfected, so that pre-cleaning can be reduced to an acceptable level,” says Alfred Zehnle, who is heading the CSSD team.
There have also been significant improvements in other areas.
“The new solutions reduces cycle times to an absolute minimum. Fill and drain times in the process steps are down from 3-4 minutes to under 35 seconds. By also optimizing the rinsing and drying steps, we have managed to reduce the batch time by 40 percent," Alfred explains.
He continues:
“When it comes to resources and costs, we save 600 m3 of deionized water every year, which translates into a cost reduction of around 26,000 euro.”
Getinge also carried out the process validation at the hospital.
"Adjustments could be made quickly and tested immediately, which saved us time and money,” Alfred says.
Altogether, he has been working together with Getinge as a supplier for 20 years.
“They definitely stand out from the competition. I have a dedicated contact person and always get immediate feedback. If something doesn't work, I know they'll take care of it, so that the important instruments remain available for our surgical teams.”
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