Increase efficiency with sharps disposal product
Increase efficiency with sharps disposal product
Also available for returning pumps and poles
Disposing of contaminated sharps can be costly, never mind the time and effort required to visit every patient to pick up their sharps containers. But that process could be a thing of the past thanks to a new product that offers substantial cost savings over traditional sharps disposal methods.
Sharps Compliance, a Houston-based company, is marketing a product it calls the Sharps Disposal By Mail System. By providing patients with one of these kits, rather than a standard sharps container, your company may not ever have to worry about sharps disposal again.
Each kit includes:
· a sealed, leak- and puncture-resistant sharps container;
· a U.S. postal-approved shipping container with pre-paid postage;
· a red bag and absorbent material for additional containment;
· a tracking manifest with complete documentation.
When the sharps container is full, the patient simply follows the directions to package the material, places the sealed sharps container in the shipping box, and drops it in the mail. The package is then delivered directly to the nearest sharps disposal location. All you get in return is a confirmation slip in the mail that verifies the contents were disposed.
The advantages were too numerous to overlook for American HomePatient, a national home care provider based in Brentwood, TN.
"We recently made an operational change that, where appropriate, our infusion locations should use this product," says Bill Davis, RPh, JD, corporate director of pharmacy for American HomePatient. "We tested this at a couple of locations, and from a corporate perspective we see this as something that is legal, will save us money, and it's probably the future considering the growth of telemedicine."
Davis notes that the system's biggest advantage is the potential for rather large cost savings.
"It depends on your market, but on average, it costs about $30 just to turn on the car or the truck for delivery or pickup," he says. "That covers the cost of the person to drive the truck, the maintenance, insurance on the truck, and the required equipment for the truck. So this system costs about what it costs for us to start the truck."
However, Davis notes that other delivery costs for driving to and from a patient's home aren't included in the $30 "truck start-up" figure.
"That doesn't include the mileage and gas and the fact that the individual going out to the home could be doing something else, like visiting a patient who needs that home visit," says Davis. "So if I can get an employee to stay in and do other things, we can better serve our referral sources by having that person available."
In fact, Davis notes that the full benefit of using the system is hard to track but clearly evident.
"It's hard to analyze the downstream effect, but it's obvious that if a person isn't running around picking up sharps, they can be more efficient doing something else," he says.
Terry Seaman, RPh, the pharmacy director for American HomePatient's regional mixing center in Houston has been using the system for six months.
"We contract with a delivery service, so it was costing us about $100 to go out and pick up supplies because, with us being the regional center, we service patients that are two hours away," he says. Compared with the $30 cost for Sharps Compliance's kit, the savings add up.
It's also convenient.
"You don't need somebody handling the sharps or a storage facility in your office," says Seaman. "All we get is the confirmation in the mail that the sharps have been incinerated."
What patients are candidates?
The system is easy enough to use, so the vast majority of your patients should be able to box the sharps up and ship them out.
"At least 75% of the patients you see can use this system, and that reduces costs tremendously," says Davis.
Assessing whether a patient is competent can take place during the initial assessment visit.
"We're required under Joint Commission standards to assess each patient's home environment, and that patient may not have the wherewithal [to use the kit]," notes Davis. "But if you've got a patient who is handling infusion pumps, they can surely handle packaging up a sharps container, putting it in a box, and sending it out in the mail. There's nothing to that."
Seaman has found that a much higher percentage than 75% of his patients can use the system.
"I haven't had any problems," he says. "We're finding almost 100% are able to do this. And nurses can help set everything up on their first visit, if necessary."
Patients also like the convenience of not having to schedule a time to meet a delivery person or American HomePatient staff member for a pickup.
"In the past, a patient might call to schedule a pickup, and you'd get sidetracked getting another patient started because that was more important," says Seaman. "So the patient would call back upset that they had scheduled an appointment for a pick up, but no one showed. This eliminates that."
Sharps Compliance also offers the Trip LesSystem, consisting of three systems that can do away with your agency having to make trips to pick up pumps and poles.
Model 1102 is a pre-paid pump return box designed specifically for ambulatory pumps. FedEx picks up the box at the patient's home, and the cost includes $2,000 of insurance for any pump lost by FedEx.
Model 1202 is a throwaway pole, while Model 1002 is a box for both your pole mount pump and pole. For Model 1002, UPS picks up the case from the patient's home.
Davis notes that the pump shipping system saves time and money, and meets Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organization (JCAHO) standards.
"JCAHO requires us to track our pumps, so somewhere we have to note that the pump has gone from the patient to FedEx; we have to get the tracking number and then we know to expect the pump back at our facility," he says.
"There's no extra work because you have to track it anyway," adds Seaman.
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