Reprocessing in the Electrophysiology Lab can save the hospital 100s of thousands of dollars per year. This is great from a cost reduction perspective, but it is easy to forget what this MEANS for the hospital and its ability to provide better care. When a new device is launched by the manufacturer, the hospital can lose 100s of thousands of dollars because the device isn’t reprocessed – and these are dollars that need to be found somewhere else.
Likewise, when $100,000 is saved, it frees dollars for acquisition of new equipment, continued education or hiring more staff – all to provide better patient care. For example, some labs are hesitant to use reprocessed devices because the original manufacturer refuses to support cases where these are used. The Lab wants the manufacturer tech to run the equipment. However, the hospital can hire its own EP tech for the dollars saved by using only 55 reprocessed SoundStar catheters per year! Similarly, EP Lab nurses that are overworked can consider the fact that the amount saved by using 66 reprocessed AcuNav catheters can pay for an extra EP nurse.
Some EP or ultrasound catheters can be reprocessed, some cannot. This means that when the EP Lab switches to a device brand that CAN be reprocessed, large amounts of money can be saved. For example, if a Lab that uses SoundStar ecos, which currently cannot be reprocessed, switches to reprocessable St Jude catheters, suddenly, the lab can save hundreds of dollars per device. To illustrate, if a Lab starts using 300 reprocessed St Jude catheters per year instead of new SoundStar eco catheters, they can hire an additional EP doctor due to the amount saved.
Financial resources freed through reprocessing can also be used to acquire expensive capital equipment – another challenge for many EP Labs and hospitals. UltraSound systems are often prohibitively expensive, but a hospital that wants to purchase a new ultrasound system can achieve this through the acquired savings by using a total of 400 reprocessed Biosense Webster SoundStar 3Ds instead of new SoundStar ecos.
Follow the below link to see other examples of what gifts are under the reprocessing tree.
Happy Holidays!