Establishing Usage Patterns and Repair Costs for Video Rhinolaryngoscopes at a Tertiary Academic Outpatient Center

To evaluate the financial impact of video rhinolaryngoscope repairs by determining repair costs and assessing the link between reprocessing patterns and repair frequency.

Retrospective review.

Outpatient settings at two tertiary care academic centers.

Repair and maintenance records for video rhinolaryngoscopes were analyzed for two tertiary care academic centers, Hospital V and Hospital S. Data were collected from January 1, 2021, to March 1, 2024, for Hospital S, and from June 18, 2019, to March 1, 2024, for Hospital V. Hospital S utilized automated endoscope reprocessing, whereas Hospital V employed manual reprocessing. Both hospitals used Olympus flexible video rhinolaryngoscopes.

Hospital V reprocessed the endoscopes within the clinic space, whereas Hospital S used centralized reprocessing. The age of rhinolaryngoscopes varied at Hospital S, whereas all endoscopes were purchased new at Hospital V during the time of study. Hospital V, with 11 rhinolaryngoscopes, conducted 15,776 outpatient rhinolaryngoscopy examinations, averaging 435 uses per endoscope annually. Only one endoscope required repair, with a total cost of CAD $1940, resulting in a repair cost of CAD $0.12 per examination. In contrast, Hospital S, operating with 17 rhinolaryngoscopes, performed 7812 exams, averaging 145 uses per endoscope annually. A total of 28 repair instances were reported, with a total cost of CAD $87,950, resulting in a repair cost of CAD $11.26 per examination.

This study highlights the impact of equipment age and reprocessing practices on repair costs and frequencies for reusable video rhinolaryngoscopes. The repair costs at both hospitals are supportive of continued use of reusable rhinolaryngoscopes.