Education at IAHCSMM

Novo Surgical’s Educational Program at IAHCSMM’s National Meeting “Visual Inspection" vs. "Validated IFUs" : An ‘Invisible’ Patient Safety Issue This past week the International Association Healthcare Central Service Material Management (IAHCSMM) held their 60^th Anniversary National Meeting and Expo in Phoenix, Arizona. As part of Novo Surgical’s ongoing commitment to better patient outcomes through improved technology and customer education, Novo sponsored a one-hour continuing education course. The 1 CE credit course was entitled “Visual Inspection" vs. "Validated IFUs": An ‘Invisible’ Patient Safety Issue. The course was presented 5 times and over 80 IAHCSMM attendees took advantage of this informative and timely course (see below)! It was originally slated for a single time slot, but due to overwhelming interest, it was expanded to 5 workshops. When it comes to reprocessing reusable medical devices and instruments, the most misused and misunderstood word in our industry right now is validated. This is especially true when it comes to reprocessing cleaning instructions for use (IFUs). This one-hour course is designed to clarify the important patient safety issues associated with device cleaning and validated IFUs. The majority of reusable instrument manufacturers state that their reprocessing IFUs have been validated. However, when you read their IFUs, all that is actually stated is that the instruments were sterilized at a given temperature, time and pressure. In most cases, the cleaning instructions themselves have not been validated to prove whether or not the instruments were free of bioburden and, more importantly, biofilm prior to sterilization. Cleaning IFUs that rely on visual inspection and that have not been validated are a ‘hidden’ patient safety issue. Given that the human eye cannot see microscopic bioburden or biofilm, this ‘hidden’ organic debris is a frequent cause of surgical infections. This presentation shows you how to minimize your patients’ risk of a surgical infection caused by a contaminated instrument by following industry recommendations to only use instruments who’s cleaning and  sterilization IFUs have been validated using FDA validation testing protocols. If you were not at IAHCSMM”s National Meeting, or if you were and you weren’t able to attend this informative session, please email customerservice@novosurgical.com and request your own copy of the presentation. Even better, if you are interested in scheduling an in-service at your facility or next chapter meeting, please contact your local representative or our corporate office for further details.