Yale Research Shows Health Systems Are Interested in Reprocessing. Unfair Industry Practices Are Getting in the Way.

Regulated medical device reprocessing is a proven example of a real sustainability solution in the healthcare industry. By turning over used medical devices to regulated, professional, third-party reprocessing firms, healthcare providers can extend the service lives of millions of products,?slashing greenhouse gas emissions and?saving tens of millions of dollars?in the healthcare industry every year.

Despite this,?new research?from Yale University reveals several barriers to more widespread adoption of reprocessing – chief among these being the anti-competitive, anti-consumer business practices of some medical device manufacturers.

The research team, headed by?Jodi Sherman,?Emily Goddard,?and?Rachel Hennein, conducted interviews with physicians and staff throughout a major regional health system to assess their perspectives on facilitators of and barriers to reprocessing.

The research found that, on the positive side, healthcare staff were supportive of reprocessing overall. Common themes included a desire for greater training for staff on how to handle reprocessed devices, and even support for dedicated project managers whose primary function is to oversee and develop reprocessing programs at their facilities.

The interviews reflect?continued?interest in reprocessing among healthcare providers. While there is always more that can and should be done to promote and expand the?abundant body of existing research?supporting the safety and efficacy of reprocessed devices, most healthcare workers at all levels seem to grasp the intuitive environmental, cost-saving, and logistical advantages of the reprocessing industry.

However, the interviews also remind us of a long-standing ailment in the healthcare sector: The concerted efforts of device manufacturers to sabotage the growth of reprocessing out of their own self-interest.

Respondents described contracts with manufacturers that include language prohibiting reprocessing, even if the device is approved for such by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Moreover, they described instances of “forced obsolescence” wherein – both at the hardware and software levels – manufacturers design their products so as to make reprocessing impossible.

The paper concludes by, among other things, calling on federal and state authorities to enact legislation that would prevent manufacturers from engaging in these sorts of practices. We at the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors (AMDR) support this suggestion wholeheartedly, having campaigned against these behaviors for over 20 years.

To prohibit reprocessing through contract language or to deliberately design in obsolescence into one’s own device so it stops working after a single use can only be rationalized through a lens of profit-maximization. By pursuing such a narrow agenda, some device manufacturers are dragging down the sustainability, cost-efficiency, and supply chain resilience of the healthcare delivery sector. As some manufacturers enrich themselves by strongarming providers, the rest of us are left to deal with supply shortages, soaring costs, and a healthcare sector that contributes?an estimated 8.5%?of national greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Regulatory authorities and healthcare providers must unite to put a stop to this situation. The Biden-Harris Administration has set ambitious climate objectives – and has made?consistent efforts to include the healthcare sector as part of the solution.

If we are to meet these objectives, it is imperative that we make every effort to scale up “circular economy” solutions in this industry. That is, practices wherein products and resources are conserved and reused throughout the economy, rather than simply used once and needlessly disposed of.

The right-to-repair movement, an idea once confined to the “fringes” of environmentalism, has exploded into the mainstream conversation of environmental-economic transformation –?including the medical device industry, as?STAT?reported in December. Simply put, healthcare stakeholders are getting tired of paying and wasting more than they have to when obvious alternatives are available.

The medical device reprocessing industry has proven its merit in this regard for decades. AMDR joins our colleagues at Yale (and the many healthcare staff and providers who contributed to their interviews) in demanding that government authorities recognize the ability to reprocess select medical devices as a fundamental consumer right – and put a stop to the greed-motivated, blatantly bad-faith business practices of some original manufacturers.