E-Posters-10076

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Pelvic floor disorders such as pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and urinary incontinence (UI) affect approximately 25% of women in the United States. The cost of ambulatory pelvic floor disorder services is estimated to be over $300 million USD per year. Pessaries, which are medical devices made of medical-grade silicone, are commonly used for the management of prolapse as a non-surgical option. However, there is currently no universal protocol for sterilization and recycling of pessaries, leading to wide variation in practice.<br /><br />A study was conducted at a urogynecology clinic to assess the practice of discarding pessaries and implement a system to decrease waste through a sterilization protocol. The study involved retrospective chart review of 635 patient charts from January 2015 to December 2015, and an intervention was implemented in June 2016. The recommended pessary sterilization procedure was reviewed, and it was verified that the devices could be safely sterilized. Nurses and medical assistants at the clinic were notified of the new recycling protocol.<br /><br />In 2015, the cost of new pessaries to the hospital was $3,533.73. 46 pessaries were discarded, amounting to a value of $2,664.78. After the intervention, 4 pessaries were recycled, which would have resulted in a loss of $231.72 if they had been discarded.<br /><br />The study concludes that sterilizing pessaries has the potential to save money and decrease waste if adopted throughout the healthcare system. Further studies regarding the safety of sterilizing pessaries are needed, and future steps will include a cost analysis.<br /><br />This study highlights the importance of implementing a universal protocol for sterilization and recycling of pessaries in urogynecology clinics to decrease waste and potentially save costs.

Meta Tag

Concept Pessary

Concept Sterilization

Concept Recycling

Concept Waste Reduction

Concept Quality Improvement

Keywords

pelvic floor disorders

pelvic organ prolapse

urinary incontinence

ambulatory pelvic floor disorder services

pessaries

sterilization protocol

waste reduction

cost savings

urogynecology clinics

healthcare system

Pessary

Sterilization

Recycling

Waste Reduction

Quality Improvement