I am so proud of the work we’ve done at AMDR these last 20 years. 20 years! We all know healthcare costs are out of control, and so I am impressed with the innovative and entrepreneurial solutions medical device reprocessors are bringing to healthcare to reign in costs and waste.
Yesterday Modern Healthcare published an article highlighting, among other things, the nearly half billion dollars we now save healthcare every year. The reprocessing industry’s savings to healthcare have double every year…. for the last 20 years. We are celebrating AMDR’s 20th birthday by releasing our reprocessing by the numbers infographic demonstrating our impact in increasing value in healthcare.
As we celebrate 20 years of AMDR, I also have had the opportunity to visit each of our members to both see what’s new, and review and the accomplishments of our industry. I’ve also racked up quite a few frequent flier miles! Just recently, I had the opportunity to see novel and expensive ablative catheter technologies at Nescientific that can dramatically lower surgery center for saphenous vein treatments. I also recently had the opportunity to speak with the sales team for Medline ReNewal. Two decades ago, it was hard to imagine a time when a medical device manufacturer and distributor . . . would be offering professionally reprocessed devices alongside their existing products.
Just prior to that, I saw the incredible investments two AMDR members have made in Florida: Cardinal Health’s Sustainable Technologies and Stryker’s Sustainability Solutions. These companies collectively employ over a 1,000 people in their plants in Tampa and Lakeland, Florida. At Sustainable Technologies I saw pallets and pallets of ECG leads destined to be given new life, rather than go to landfills. And at Stryker, incredibly, multiple robots on the assembly line were increasing capacity, reducing staff work load and improving consistency and quality. Both companies were busting at the seams. It was truly a sight
Prior to that, I made a lap out west to see ReNu Medical in Everett, Washington, and Innovative Health and Stryker’s Sustainability Solution in Scottsdale and Phoenix respectively. ReNu and Innovative Health are bringing unique reprocessed device options to healthcare. ReNu’s high-level disinfection for non-invasive medical devices also offers an environmentally preferable solution to hospitals, that saves them money. Going green, and saving green. Innovative Health is truly innovating, obtaining FDA clearances (two in the last month alone) for never before available reprocessed cardiac catheters, including a micro-lumened device – further demonstrating the reprocessing industry’s expertise within MedTech as leaders in cleaning technology.
In Berlin with Vanguard, the European market larder, I was able to attend the German Hospital Association Congress and hear, first hand, the critical role reprocessing plays in helping hospitals control procedure costs. And I met with company engineers as we work on our Association’s master international regulatory guidance document we hope to release this fall.
So there is much going on. Below is a selection of reprocessing-related stories from the past quarter. I often get many responses from my quarterly newsletter and I love hearing from you!
Happy summer!