Innovative Health Kicks Off Vital Industry Dialogue with Webinar on Circular Economy Solutions in Healthcare

Free educational event on April 29 will discuss new research into the environmental benefits of single-use device reprocessing and how it can serve as a template for broader circular economy solutions in healthcare

Innovative Health, Inc. opened registration for an upcoming webinar that will discuss new research into the environmental advantages of single-use device reprocessing, as well as how it can become a template for other circular economy solutions in healthcare. The webinar, scheduled for April 29, at noon EDT, is open and complimentary for all attendees.

“The pandemic has led to a focus on the need to re-use some medical devices and underscored the need for hospitals to critically review their supply chain. At the same time, the new administration has indicated it will have a strong focus on environmental sustainability,” said Innovative Health CEO Rick Ferreira. “Single-use device reprocessing does more than save hospitals money. It also helps the environment, and it makes the supply chain more resilient. As such, it serves as an important case study as we deepen our conversations about the sustainability of the current healthcare supply chain.”

A recent study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology found that reprocessed electrophysiology catheters have an environmental impact that is less than half of the impact of a new device. Although electricity and detergents are used in reprocessing, the impact of plastic production and other elements on a new device makes the reprocessed devices much less environmentally harmful.

The study’s lead author, Anna Schulte from the Fraunhofer Institute, will join Sean Essex, Lean Engineer and environmental spokesperson for Innovative Health, during the upcoming webinar to dig deeper into the findings and implications of this landmark study.

“Single-use device reprocessing challenges the single-use mindset in healthcare,” Ferreira noted. “Effective systems are in place for collecting the used devices, the process of making the devices ready for another use is FDA regulated, and devices seamlessly go back to the hospital for another use. Reprocessing is an established circular economy solution. In fact, it may be the only circular healthcare economy model that is successfully used.”

Administrators and clinicians can learn more and register for this free webinar here.

About Innovative Health

Innovative Health is an advanced medical device reprocessing company that offers smarter utilization of medical devices in hospitals’ cardiology and electrophysiology programs.