Sara joined the Nanosonics Medical Affairs team in 2022, bringing a background in Diagnostic Imaging with experience in CT, X-ray, and Interventional Radiology. Her clinical expertise plus extensive understanding of CSA guidelines, make her a valuable resource for clinicians and healthcare facilities throughout Canada.
“Our complimentary site assessments help facilities who would like to learn more about their current infection prevention practices, and if they’re doing enough to protect patients from the risk of infections that can be caused by improper ultrasound probe reprocessing. We help facilities identify any gaps in their reprocessing procedures when compared to established guidelines and standards. During the assessment, we visit the departments where ultrasound equipment is located and make observational notes. We then present the findings to the facility in a comprehensive report.
Site visits help compare current facility HLD procedures to CSA guidelines
In my site visits, I find a lot of details of a facility’s high level disinfection process are often overlooked. A proper HLD workflow goes beyond the machine or chemical that is used to perform HLD. It includes proper cleaning, drying, storage, recordkeeping, and transportation methods – steps that are often not taken into consideration. A site assessment allows us to look at the HLD process as a whole and learn about every detail of the workflow. We want to make sure guidelines are followed from start to finish.
CSA guidelines are extensive and can be confusing. Our team’s expertise to navigate through guidelines and regulatory recommendations makes us a valuable partner for a facility when it comes to making sure that appropriate processes are in place. Our goal is to provide data-driven analysis to let facilities know how to make improvements.
Visibility into reprocessing procedures leads to standardization
Sometimes our larger facilities with multiple departments are prone to a lack of standardization. Guidelines are typically being followed closely by the main ultrasound department, but not necessarily standardized across all departments. Standardization is critical, because if everyone is reprocessing and documenting/reporting the same way, procedures are easier to track. If there needs to be an audit of the process, having just one general way of doing things makes it easier to find specific data.
Having standardized facility-wide processes also helps from a budgetary and asset-management perspective. If a site is using one method for HLD, they’re only purchasing materials for one type of product, rather than ordering different chemicals for different departments, or having to check various methods for probe compatibility.
The site visit gives visibility into any gaps in standardization and gives an opportunity for education around how to apply Spaulding classification to disinfection decisions.”
