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Economic Analysis of Reprocessing Single-Use Medical Devices: A Systematic Literature Review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Philip Jacobs ,
Julie Polisena ,
David Hailey  and
Susan Lafferty
Philip Jacobs*
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton, Alberta
Julie Polisena
Affiliation:
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
David Hailey
Affiliation:
Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton, Alberta
Susan Lafferty
Affiliation:
Regional Infection Prevention and Control Program, Capital Health, Edmonton, Alberta
*
Institute of Health Economics, 1200-10405 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5J N4, Canada (pjacobs@ihe.ca)
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Abstract

Background.

Although an increasing number of medical devices are labeled “for single use only,” cleaning and reuse of single-use medical devices continues, because of the economic incentive. We conducted a survey of the economic literature to obtain the current evidence available and to assess the costs and benefits of reusing single-use medical devices.

Methods.

A comprehensive literature search was carried out to identify articles that compared single use and reuse of single-use medical devices and that met specific scientific criteria, including evaluation of economic outcomes. Each selected article was independently reviewed by 2 reviewers to extract cost and clinical outcome data and to assess the quality of the study.

Results.

Nine published articles met the selection criteria. The savings were about 49% of the direct cost. These savings would be offset by adverse-event costs, but none were detected. However, quality of the studies was generally poor.

Conclusions.

There is little available evidence of quality in the published literature to assess the practice of reuse of single-use medical devices. Moreover, data on clinical outcomes are missing and, where available, cannot be attributed specifically to the reuse of single-use medical devices.

Type
Original Article
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , April 2008 , pp. 297 - 301
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2008

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