Protect Your Sterilizer & Keep Your OR Running With SterilSource

Written by: Ivan Arkhipov

For sterile processing teams at healthcare facilities, providing purified water for their autoclave has historically meant accepting tradeoffs around floor space, budget, and throughput. Ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) and other, smaller healthcare facilities have felt this most acutely, with many having to choose between installing a bulky reverse osmosis (RO) system that takes up significant […]

Critical Water for Autoclaves

AAMI ST108 & Critical Water for Autoclaves: What ASCs Need to Know

Written by: Ivan Arkhipov

A major step forward in patient safety, ANSI/AAMI ST108 establishes new minimum water quality requirements for water used in the cleaning, rinsing, disinfection, and sterilization of reusable medical devices. Despite providing guidance on water quality management for sterile processing, ST108 has also created confusion, especially regarding test protocols, water treatment, and critical water requirements. In […]

photo of a white surgery room with equipment

How to Start an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC)

Written by: Arthur Trapotsis

If you’re a physician who’s considering opening their own ambulatory surgery center (ASC), you’re in good company. MCG Health reports that, of the 5,800 ASCs on record in the U.S. in 2023, 95% were at least partially physician owned and 52% were solely physician owned. The incentives for physicians are clear: ASCs offer greater autonomy […]

Autoclave Pricing & Industry Averages

Autoclave Pricing & Industry Averages

Written by: Arthur Trapotsis

Whether you’re replacing outdated or broken units in your sterilizer lineup, expanding your  sterile processing department (SPD), or opening up a brand new healthcare facility, there’s a lot to consider when selecting the right autoclaves for the job. While specs like chamber capacity, overall size, and performance are all important, price is more often than […]

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Cleaning Surgical Instruments: What Healthcare Facilities Need to Know

Written by: Arthur Trapotsis

Ensuring the sterility of surgical instruments and other medical equipment is paramount to patient safety in hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), and other healthcare facilities, preventing cross-contamination and reducing the risk of healthcare-associated infection (HAI). But patients aren’t the only ones who benefit. By maintaining a rigorous surgical equipment cleaning process, healthcare facilities can maintain […]

Surgery Center Architecture Firms cover

Top 10 Surgery Center Architecture Firms

Written by: Arthur Trapotsis

Building a new ambulatory surgery center (ASC) from the ground up is no simple task. From choosing the right location and setting budgets to drawing up building plans and managing construction, there are many moving pieces to keep track of. As a more specialized project, there are certain parameters that must be met to ensure […]

person-in-blue-hospital-sterile-gown-holding-equipment-and-two-boxes-to-dispose-of-blood-or-biohazards-to-the-right

Top 13 Sterile Processing Mistakes in Hospitals

Written by: Arthur Trapotsis

When it comes to ensuring patient safety in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), the Sterile Processing Department (SPD) is among the last lines of defense. It’s this department’s sole responsibility to make sure that reusable instruments and devices are properly decontaminated, sterilized, and ultimately safe to use in future procedures — protecting patients from […]

The image serves as a graphical depiction for educational content, illustrating the differences between sterilization and both high-level and low-level disinfection. It shows a sterilizer machine on the left with an interface and a "face," continuing the playful anthropomorphic theme. To the right, three gauges or dials represent different levels and intensities of sterilization and disinfection processes. Each dial has a different color on the hands—green, blue, and red—indicating varying degrees of sterilization or disinfection effectiveness. This setup visually communicates a 3-point comparison, likely highlighting the specific conditions, time durations, or effectiveness associated with each method in a clear, comparative format, suitable for educational or training purposes in healthcare settings.

Sterilization vs. High-Level and Low-Level Disinfection [a 3-Point Comparison]

Written by: Arthur Trapotsis

In a 1939 paper, microbiologist Earle H. Spaulding introduced a system for determining which medical devices and instruments needed disinfection and which ones required sterilization. In it, he proposed that critical instruments would need to be subjected to more stringent disinfection protocols than non-critical patient care items. Today, this framework is fittingly known as Spaulding […]