Development of a program model to evaluate the potential for reuse of single-use medical devices: results of a pilot test study.

Single-use medical devices (SUDs, or disposables) have become a major expense in hospital budgets. The need for cost reduction and the availability of sterilization technologies other than the autoclave have prompted hospitals worldwide to begin reusing disposables, in many cases without proper assessment of the true costs (time, personnel, etc) and ease/difficulty of implementation of an institutional reuse program. Our group has developed a rigorous program model to evaluate SUDs for reuse.