Following the issue of a recent Senate report that has revived discussion of last year’s health crisis related to contaminated duodenoscopes, ECRI Institute has announced it will hold an educational webinar to examine the issue. “Endoscope Reprocessing: Are We Doing Enough to Protect Patients?” will be held on Wednesday, March 16, from 1:00 to 2:00 PM (EST).
“The fact that many of the duodenoscope infections occurred despite the use of industry-recommended reprocessing procedures raises new concerns,” says Chris Lavanchy, engineering director at ECRI Institute. “Hospitals are wondering what they should do to ensure that all their flexible scopes are being effectively processed.”
The session will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of various methods to decontaminate endoscopes. Speakers will include Lavanchy; William A. Rutala, PhD, MPH, director of hospital epidemiology, Occupational Health and Safety Program at University of North Carolina School of Medicine; and Michelle Day, MSN, CGRN, Team Leader, Comprehensive Liver Center, Hartford Hospital.
The event is intended for risk managers, clinical and biomedical engineers, materials managers, OR managers, OR technicians, scope reprocessing staff, and other healthcare professionals. For more information, visit the ECRI Institute website.
