The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) reports that the healthcare sector is a significant contributor to climate change, accounting for 8.5% of U.S. emissions, a notable driver being single-use (disposable) medical devices.
Many hospitals and surgery centers are turning to reprocessing – the process of cleaning, testing and disinfecting and/or sterilizing certain single-use medical devices, allowing them to be safely resold for patient use. Third-party reprocessing is an FDA-regulated practice that helps hospitals reduce cost, waste and emissions, while strengthening their supply chain. Cardinal Health’s Sustainable Technologies business is a leading provider of single-use device collections and reprocessing services in the U.S. Sustainable Technologies reprocesses a wide array of products, from the patient care floor to the operating room, to help ensure that reprocessing maximizes savings without compromising patient care or safety.
Healthcare providers that leverage Sustainable Technologies use collection containers to safely collect used products for reprocessing. When the devices arrive at the reprocessing site, they undergo inspection and sorting. Next, a high-level disinfection or sterilization process is utilized to thoroughly clean devices. Finally, they are tested and inspected before returning to the supply chain for sales and distribution.
