The annual health technology networking event, AAMI eXchange, is returning as an in-person meeting in San Antonio, Texas on June 3-6. This year, a dedicated track of sessions will help sterile processing professionals and leadership catch up on changes in regulation, best practices and strategies for improving their hospital, clinic or industry department.
Considering ANSI/AAMI ST91:2021
The latest updates made to ANSI/AAMI ST91:2021, Flexible and semi-rigid endoscope processing in health care facilities, addresses new technologies as well as concerns about medical device cleanliness and patient safety. The new update reflects the consensus of industry, clinicians and sterilization professionals from around the world. However, it may also represent significant changes for many sterile processing departments.
The Saturday, June 4 sterilization track wraps up just before the day’s main stage presentation with “Equipment Qualification in Sterile Processing: Quality Management From Day One” at 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. This session will delve into how ST91 provides a performance baseline for documenting what equipment is actually capable of after installation in a facility.
“In this talk, I will discuss installation qualification, operational qualification and performance qualification, and requalification to make sure performance is maintained over time,” said presenter Jonathan Wilder, Ph.D., Quality Processing Resource Group LLC.
Does your department do a lot of endoscope reprocessing? At 2 p.m. on June 5, Jill Morgan of Emory University Hospital will be joined by Garland-Rhea Grisby Sr., the Kaiser Permanente endoscope service manager who co-led the ST91 update, to outline the importance of having staff dedicated to endoscopes and their associated guidance.
“When a patient undergoes surgery, they want a highly skilled and trained physician performing the procedure. The same can be said of those who will process the endoscopes and probes,” they explained. “This session will demonstrate the consequences of improper training and lack of processing opportunities and the benefits of dedicated staff.”
Future-Facing Sessions
On Saturday, June 4, tech savvy and forward-looking professionals will start their morning with a special 7:15 a.m. session, “Reprocessing of Robotic Surgery and Reusable Instruments.” Stuart White, MIDSc (Chtd), of CMR Surgical will introduce minimal access surgery and robotic-assisted surgery and detail the differences between standard and robotic surgical instruments. The presentation will delve into the challenges of reprocessing robotic surgical instruments including design considerations, requirements and standards, validations steps and how to ensure patient safety throughout the process.
Directly afterwards, department leaders can learn how their sterile processing department “measures up” to industry expectations. In an 8 a.m. education session, attendees can learn about the strategies and practical quality management tools that can help identify a successful team’s next opportunity for improvement.
Modalities and More
A common theme for every eXchange, sterilization professionals will also be treated to multiple education sessions exploring the latest techniques and best practices associated with sterile processing modalities.
Sessions include a look at uncommon steam sterilization methods, discussing chlorine dioxide versus ethylene oxide, methods for attacking special pathogens and innovative research on the effects repetitive handling has on a sterile package in a health care setting. Of note, the KiiP Movement dedicated to innovation in sterile packaging will also be outlining a number of special projects, accomplishments and next steps for industry collaboration on June 5 at 4:15 p.m.
For more information, visit www.aami.org/conferences/event/exchange-2022-education-sessions.