Hennepin Healthcare Clinic & Specialty Center installs United States’ first pass-through endoscope reprocessor to enhance patient safety

Advanced technology from Medivators, Cantel Medical’s Endoscopy division, will help establish organization’s endoscope reprocessing department as new gold standard

Hennepin Healthcare, a comprehensive health system dedicated to advancing today’s endoscope reprocessing standards, announced today its partnership with Cantel Medical to install the ADVANTAGE PLUS™ Pass-Thru Automated Endoscope Reprocessor (AER), the nation’s very first pass-through AER.

Due to highly complex device designs and conflicting industry reprocessing standards, healthcare facilities nationwide have experienced challenges to standardize processes that safely disinfect flexible endoscopes. While many today meet basic industry standards for high-level disinfection of flexible endoscopes, there is still more that can be done to ensure an endoscope is clean to better protect patients from infections.

The ADVANTAGE PLUS Pass-Thru Automated Endoscope Reprocessor establishes a physical separation between dirty and clean reprocessing areas to support a one-way workflow that streamlines processes while minimizing the risk of cross contamination and human error. The pass-through approach completely revolutionizes the endoscope reprocessing room, elevating the process from meeting minimum standards to achieving best practices.

“At Hennepin Healthcare, our patients come first and we want to do everything we can to ensure they receive the best possible care at our facilities,” said Uggen Jigmey, Sterile Processing Department Manager, Hennepin Healthcare. “The ADVANTAGE PLUS Pass-Thru AER, along with other innovations from Medivators, help us elevate our reprocessing workflow to increase efficiency and enhance infection prevention to the highest level possible. This is an element of our work that patients should never have to think about – and yet it’s our highest priority.”

In addition to installing the first U.S. pass-through AER, Hennepin Healthcare completely transformed its endoscope reprocessing room during the building of its new Clinic and Specialty Center. Hennepin Healthcare has reimagined its reprocessing area with the best of endoscope reprocessing innovations, including:

• Ergonomic power lift sinks to reduce technician fatigue and promote proper posture.
• Veriscan™ LT Leak Detection System to check for damage between each patient procedure.
• Endoscope cassettes that only require technicians to handle endoscopes once from high-level disinfection to pre-procedure transportation, saving time and reducing potential for cross contamination.
• Pass-through ENDODRY™ Cabinets that digitally track drying and storage times and include secure storage that requires staff credentials for access.
• Covered transport for all scopes that indicate whether a scope is clean or dirty based on the cover color.

“The current industry standards are not enough to ensure patient safety and positive outcomes,” said Jigmey. “We had a vision to elevate endoscope reprocessing well beyond the industry’s current standard practices so our staff and patients can be confident in the quality of endoscope being used.”

There is peace of mind knowing the scopes I use on my patients have gone through this new gold standard of endoscope reprocessing,” said Jake Matlock, MD, GI Physician at Hennepin Healthcare. “I want my patients to have the best possible outcomes, and that starts with safely getting a quality specimen for proper diagnosis to inform the right treatment pathway.”

“Hennepin Healthcare is committed to leveraging the most innovative and effective equipment that incorporates best practices from around the globe to establish a world class endoscope reprocessing program,” said Darren Dahlin, Senior Product Manager, Medivators. “They are setting an example of excellence for the industry and we share their enthusiasm for raising the endoscope reprocessing quality bar.”

As part of continuing renovations, Hennepin Healthcare will upgrade all of its flexible endoscope reprocessing facilities to the new system in the next 18 months. The existing system meets – and in many ways already exceeds – current industry standards, but Hennepin Healthcare is committed to elevating endoscope reprocessing across the entire organization.

“The new construction we are undertaking gives us a chance to stop and think about what we can do differently to provide better care for our patients,” said Jigmey. “To us, it’s about more than just adding a new technology – we want to help shift the mindset of the industry to do better. The industry expertise, progressive thinking, innovative technology and overall commitment to quality improvement that the Medivators team brings to this project has been critical to helping us lead the way in a new era of endoscope reprocessing.”

About Hennepin Healthcare
Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc. (HHS) is a comprehensive health care system that includes HCMC, a 484-bed Level I Adult and Pediatric Trauma Center, as well as primary care and specialty care clinics located in downtown Minneapolis and suburban Hennepin County. In 2018, HHS opened its new Clinic & Specialty Center downtown offering convenient, easy access to clinics and specialty services, including a comprehensive GI lab providing state-of-the-art colonoscopy and endoscopy services. For more information, go to www.hennepinhealthcare.org.

About Cantel Medical
Cantel Medical is a leading global company dedicated to delivering innovative infection prevention and control products and services for patients, caregivers, and other healthcare providers which improve outcomes, enhance safety and help save lives. Cantel has more than 20 years of experience in infection prevention and our products include specialized medical device reprocessing systems for endoscopy and renal dialysis, advanced water purification equipment, sterilants, disinfectants and cleaners, sterility assurance monitoring products for hospitals and dental clinics, disposable infection control products primarily for dental and GI endoscopy markets, dialysate concentrates, hollow fiber membrane filtration and separation products. Additionally, we provide technical service for our products. For further information, visit the Cantel website at www.cantelmedical.com.