title: A survey of the costs of flexible endoscope cleaning and disinfection.
abstract: A questionnaire was developed and sent to the 860 members of the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates Lab Management Special Interest Group. Of the 98 (11%) completed responses, the average per-procedure price for cleaning one flexible endoscope was $39.13 for manual disinfecting and $40.56 using an automatic disinfector. Staff costs, including those attributable to cleaning-related delays, accounted for the largest single component of the overall cleaning costs (44%). Cleaning-related damage and maintaining an inventory of endoscopes to offset the effects of reprocessing on procedure scheduling were also found to significantly contribute to cleaning costs.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shields
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D020776:Endoscopes, Gastrointestinal; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology; D008283:Maintenance; D010559:Personnel Management / Q000191:economics; D013242:Sterilization / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires