Defining the Costs of Reusable Flexible Ureteroscope Reprocessing Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing

Area of Science:

• Medical device reprocessing
• Healthcare operations management
• Urology

Background:

• Reusable flexible ureteroscopes require thorough decontamination and sterilization to prevent pathogen transmission.
• Inefficient reprocessing and device unavailability can lead to costly operating room delays.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) to analyze the time and costs of flexible ureteroscope reprocessing.
• To identify bottlenecks and areas for process improvement in ureteroscope reprocessing.

Main Methods:

• Direct observation and timing of all reprocessing steps for flexible ureteroscopes.
• Interviews with purchasing staff to estimate repair times for damaged devices.
• Process mapping to detail individual step times and variances.
• Cost data analysis for labor and disposables.

Main Results:

• Ureteroscope reprocessing averaged 229.0 ± 74.4 minutes; repair averaged 143 minutes.
• Ureteroscope drying was the longest step (126.5 ± 55.7 minutes) with high variance.
• Total reprocessing cost was $96.13 per episode, including labor and disposables.

Conclusions:

• TDABC effectively outlines costs and identifies areas for improving ureteroscope reprocessing.
• Optimizing ureteroscope drying techniques can save up to 2 hours per reprocessing event.
• Process improvements can enhance value-based care and prevent operating room delays.