Improving endoscope precleaning workflows

Editor's Note

Researchers at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, gathered an interdisciplinary team to organize a safe and time efficient precleaning workflow for their fast-paced GI clinic that decreased time spent precleaning by 50%.

The researchers identified inadequate precleaning processes, including staff who did not follow a clean to dirty workflow, which resulted in contamination of clean supplies and possible staff and patient exposures from potentially infectious materials.

To address this, the interdisciplinary team simulated and rehearsed precleaning in mock clinical settings. Tasks were organized into set-up, precleaning, packaging, and transportation.

The team met over a 6-month period to report on progress, review standards, and address obstacles.

This improvement initiative can be adapted by other specialty settings, the authors note.