As health care providers continue to focus on the reduction of healthcare acquired infections (HAIs) and surgical site infections (SSIs), the ultraviolet (UV) disinfection market is on the rise. Additional factors powering the growth of this market include the importance being placed on patient outcomes and patient satisfaction.
Last year, reports suggested that the market for ultraviolet-C (UVC) disinfection was expected to hit $80 million by the end of the year. In fact, UVC disinfection was such a popular topic that the ECRI Institute included it on its 2017 C-Suite Watch List.
“The UV-C technology segment dominated the global environmental disinfection robots market and is expected to lead the market over the next four years. The growth of this segment is attributed to the fact that an increasing number of hospitals and health care facilities will invest in automating their disinfection process to combat against HAIs. This segment is likely to grow further as more hospitals and other health care facilities will invest in automating their disinfection process,” according to MarketResearchReports.biz.
Geographically, the Americas are expected to dominate the market for the next 5 years, the report added.
Some major manufacturers in the UV-C disinfection market are Bioquell, STERIS, The Clorox Company, Tru-D SmartUVC, Xenex, Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP), Blue Ocean Robotics, Infection Prevention Technologies, Surfacide and UVC Cleaning Systems.
The overall importance of this market can be realized by looking at similar markets within heath care.
For example, a surface disinfectant market report by MarketsandMarkets, predicts that the surface disinfectants market is expected to reach $789.1 million by 2022 from $529.6 million in 2017. The increasing number of surgical procedures, rising geriatric population and subsequent growth in the prevalence of chronic diseases are major factors that are driving the growth of this market.
Additionally, the MarketsandMarkets report states “the surface disinfectants market is segmented into hospitals, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, and other end users. The hospitals segment holds the largest share in the market. The growth is primarily attributed to the rising incidence of HAIs and growth in the number of hospitals in emerging countries.”
The amount of funds dedicated to disinfection along with a growing emphasis on the reduction of SSIs and HAIs seem to indicate a potential for huge growth in the health care segment of the UV-C disinfection market.
Leaders from companies that manufacturer these devices see a positive future for the industry.
“The UVC disinfection market has grown exponentially in the past five years as hospitals have been more receptive to adopting the technology. Part of this shift is due to HAI rates increasing, more superbugs discovered each year and increased financial accountability for infection rates,” said Chuck Dunn, CEO of Tru-D SmartUVC. “Hospitals are realizing that it’s critical to provide the cleanest environments possible to protect patients and staff from infections.”
“The AHA and CDC recently published new guidelines, ‘Using the Health Care Physical Environment to Prevent and Control Infection,’ which suggests best practices for cleaning and disinfection, including the use of no-touch disinfection technology. Tru-D is a type of no-touch disinfection with clinically validated results in HAI reduction and ease of integration into hospital workflows,” he added. “As prominent organizations such as the AHA, CDC and ASHE begin to stress the use of enhanced terminal room disinfection technology, we believe UVC disinfection will become a standard of care for health care facilities.”
Xenex Vice President of Sales and Account Management Irene Hahn agrees that the market is on the rise.
“OR Directors are definitely looking at ways to address surgical site infections (SSIs) and our conversations with them have changed dramatically over the past couple of years. We are no longer explaining what UV disinfection is,” Hahn explained. “They have reviewed the peer-reviewed studies from hospitals that experienced fewer SSIs after they used LightStrike robots for room disinfection, and they are interested in how pulsed xenon UV can fit into their daily operations.”
“We’ve seen facilities invest in our technology because they want to begin offering new surgical services, such as outpatient joint procedures, and they understand the need for the cleanest environment possible to reduce the risk of an infection. As patients increasingly choose to go to ASCs for complex procedures, it’s critically important that the facility is providing a clean environment,” Hahn said.
