

Beyond Clean Podcast
Beyond Clean Podcast
Even though their tools and equipment touch nearly every surgical patient in the world, how much do you really know about the people, processes, and products used in the Sterile Processing industry? Beyond Clean offers a creative look into the inner workings of a healthcare industry surrounded by challenges, disrupted by change, and committed to getting it right -- every instrument, every time. The team at Beyond Clean will bring on some of the biggest names in surgical instrument reprocessing and provide commentary on the biggest issues facing Sterile Processing professionals, facilities, administrators, manufacturers, and vendors. Join us every week as we explore the hidden world of one of the most important aspect of safe surgical care.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 26, 2022 • 1h
Surgery Starts Here: Communicating the Real Value of Sterile Processing
How can your Sterile Processing department move a directionless group of people with ineffective processes and a shortage of reprocessed instruments to a team that collaborates and communicates with the Operating Room on a regular basis? What practices or tools are necessary to improve communication between both departments, and within the SPD itself? On this week's Beyond Clean special release, we're sharing an exclusive interview from the 2014 HPN SPD Department of the Year award winner, SPD Manager at Jim Tyrell SPD Manager at Silver Cross Hospital, from our "Conference of Champions" event earlier this year. Join us to hear from Jim and Marybeth Antone, Procedural Care Unit Administrative Director, about how they expanded the scope of their SPD responsibilities and how their team improved through internal process-improvement programs to build an award-winning department. Each "Conference of Champions" special release episode is individually approved for 1 CE, so once you finish this interview, you can download your CE certificate immediately by passing the short quiz linked below each week. For access to this CE quiz and over 300 other free CE credits, visit our CE Credit Hub: http://www.beyondclean.net/ce-credit-hub

Dec 24, 2022 • 2min
What's In Your Peel Pack? | Expert Series On-The-Go
On this week's edition of the Beyond Clean Expert Series On-The-Go, tune in for the conversation entitled, "What's In Your Peel Pack?". To hear more from this expert, follow us on Facebook and Linkedin, or subscribe to the Beyond Clean mailing list by visiting: https://educate.beyondclean.net/cleanfreaks or text BEYONDCLEAN to 22828 Do you know a #SterileProcessing expert who you'd love to hear from on our series? Or do you have a question for one of our current experts? Contact us at any time via email at: info@beyondclean.net Until next time, keep fighting dirty! #SterileProcessing #BeyondClean #ExpertSeries #Podcast

Dec 22, 2022 • 7min
Sterilization Scare: 5 Lessons We Must Learn from Porter Adventist Hospital
On this CE-approved episode of Articles-On-The-Go, listen as Hank Balch spells out the lessons that should be learned from headline grabbing quality breakdowns such as what happened at Porter Adventist Hospital in 2018. Could your facility be the next Porter? "We have learned the dangers are real and the damages to our patient trust and public relations are massive, but the determination to solve these issues is too often still met with half-hearted nods from a C-suite who assume if surgeries are still happening, everything must be okay in Sterile Processing. As each of these sterilization scares show us, that is most definitely NOT the case. The only real way to protect your hospital and your patients from being the next Porter is to take these quality threats seriously...before it's too late... " To read this article, take the CE quiz & download your certificate, click here. Stay tuned for new CE approved Articles On-the-Go releasing each week! Bookmark our new AOTG CE page here: https://www.beyondclean.net/articles-on-the-go #FightingDirty #HankBalch #BeyondClean #WeFightDirty™ Click To Subscribe on YouTube, iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or Spotify or Visit Our Website!

Dec 19, 2022 • 1h 5min
Marching to Zero: Leadership, Vision, and SPD Success
How many unsterile trays are waiting for you every morning when you arrive in Sterile Processing? Do you feel like you’re always playing catch-up, but constantly falling further behind? On this week's Beyond Clean special release, we're sharing an exclusive interview from the 2018 HPN SPD Department of the Year award winner, SPD Manager at Advocate Aurora Christ Medical Center, from our "Conference of Champions" event earlier this year. Theodule knows the feeling of overcoming unprocessed trays very well. When faced with an average of 650 unsterile trays every morning, shockingly high IUSS rates, incomplete trays, missing instruments, and a skyrocketing employee turnover rate, Theodule and the team at ACMC developed and implemented an interventional plan to improve operations and service quality for reprocessing instruments and trays. How? By embracing the concepts of process improvement and lean methodology. They used process flow mapping, spaghetti diagrams, and time studies to reorganize the department into an efficient and safe work area. Join us to hear from Yves and Katie Sikora, MSN, RN, CNOR Executive Director of Surgical and Endoscopy Services to find out how they put this plan in place and began their “March to Zero” to improve the crucial work being done in their Sterile Processing department. Each "Conference of Champions" special release episode is individually approved for 1 CE, so once you finish this interview, you can download your CE certificate immediately by passing the short quiz linked below each week. For access to this CE quiz and over 300 other free CE credits, visit our CE Credit Hub: http://www.beyondclean.net/ce-credit-hub

Dec 17, 2022 • 2min
SPD and OR Teams Must Create A United Front | Expert Series On-The-Go
On this week's edition of the Beyond Clean Expert Series On-The-Go, tune in for the conversation entitled, "SPD and OR Teams Must Create A United Front". To hear more from this expert, follow us on Facebook and Linkedin, or subscribe to the Beyond Clean mailing list by visiting: https://educate.beyondclean.net/cleanfreaks or text BEYONDCLEAN to 22828 Do you know a #SterileProcessing expert who you'd love to hear from on our series? Or do you have a question for one of our current experts? Contact us at any time via email at: info@beyondclean.net Until next time, keep fighting dirty! #SterileProcessing #BeyondClean #ExpertSeries #Podcast

Dec 16, 2022 • 34min
Perfect Wash Control System: A complete and automated cleaning monitoring system for SPD/CSSD
How do you avoid human error within your critical Sterile Processing workflows? What can you do today to improve traceability and reduce time spent waiting on monitoring results at every stage of reprocessing? Joining us for this Beyond Clean Vendor Spotlight™ are Terragene team members Mark Duro CRCST, FCS, Industry Subject Matter Expert & Education Manager and Hisashi Konno, Biomedical Engineer & Product Specialist to speak with us about the role that constant innovation plays in keeping our departments ahead of the technology curve. With patient safety in surgery completely dependent on compliant reprocessing protocols in Sterile Processing, comprehensive solutions are a must-have. Listen as they describe how Terragene is leading the industry with cutting edge technology to make this both possible and affordable for hospitals around the country, and across the globe. Tune in for the full conversation! To learn more about Terragene, visit https://terragene.com/ Follow the Terragene social media accounts at: https://www.facebook.com/terragenesa https://www.linkedin.com/company/terragene/ https://www.instagram.com/terragene.tg For general information, reach out to info@terragene.com or better yet, contact Ruben Rios in marketing or Mark directly! Mark.duro@terragene.com Ruben.rios@terragene.com #Terragene #VendorSpotlight #Podcast #BeyondClean

Dec 15, 2022 • 6min
So You Want to Be a Sterile Processing Manager: How to Get There and What to Expect
In this CE-approved episode of Articles On-The-Go, Hank Balch discusses the road to becoming a department leader and how to best navigate it: -- "If there’s one point where far too many new sterile processing professionals fail, it is realizing that every single day is an interview. You may think that because everyone else is doing it or because that’s how your trainer told you to do it, then it’s okay to engage in bad habits or related behaviors, but here’s the deal: nobody else is going to be the manager either if they are not acting like a leader today." To read this article, take the CE quiz & download your certificate, click here. Stay tuned for new CE approved Articles On-the-Go releasing each week! Bookmark our new AOTG CE page here: https://www.beyondclean.net/articles-on-the-go #FightingDirty #HankBalch #BeyondClean #WeFightDirty™ Click To Subscribe on YouTube, iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or Spotify or Visit Our Website!

Dec 12, 2022 • 60min
Accountable for Change: Collaborating Between Supply Chain & SPD
In many healthcare facilities, Sterile Processing departments fall under the reporting structure of perioperative services. The same cannot be said at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The Central Processing department at this facility broke the mold when it joined forces with Supply Chain and created a new reporting structure within their surgical services. On this week's Beyond Clean special release, we're sharing an exclusive interview from the 2019 HPN SPD Department of the Year award winner, CHOP's Robert Silverstein, Senior Director, Central Processing and High-Level Disinfection/Sterilization, from our "Conference of Champions" event earlier this year. Join us for this interview as we hear from Robert about the benefits his department has experienced since making this structural change to report to & through Supply Chain. From the optimization of preference cards and supply chain management to the significant improvement to OR “On Time” starts, this reporting structure is certainly proven to be effective. Gather around with your favorite inventory specialist and tune in for this collaborative discussion! Each "Conference of Champions" special release episode is individually approved for 1 CE, so once you finish this interview, you can download your CE certificate immediately by passing the short quiz linked below each week. For access to this CE quiz and over 300 other free CE credits, visit our CE Credit Hub: http://www.beyondclean.net/ce-credit-hub

Dec 10, 2022 • 2min
Putting the Puzzle Together for Point of Use Pre-Cleaning Compliance - Part 2 | Expert Series On-The-Go
On this week's edition of the Beyond Clean Expert Series On-The-Go, tune in for the conversation entitled, "Putting the Puzzle Together for Point of Use Pre-Cleaning Compliance - Part 2". To hear more from this expert, follow us on Facebook and Linkedin, or subscribe to the Beyond Clean mailing list by visiting: https://educate.beyondclean.net/cleanfreaks or text BEYONDCLEAN to 22828 Do you know a #SterileProcessing expert who you'd love to hear from on our series? Or do you have a question for one of our current experts? Contact us at any time via email at: info@beyondclean.net Until next time, keep fighting dirty! #SterileProcessing #BeyondClean #ExpertSeries #Podcast

Dec 9, 2022 • 46min
The Processing Powerhouse: Containers that Operate with Greater Precision
With features that help streamline processes and reduce the possibility of wet sets, Aesculap’s next generation rigid container is everything you’d expect from the market leader.¹ The new AESCULAP Aicon™ Sterile Container System is a sterilization powerhouse that delivers 100% container and basket synchronization, up to 47 percent less dry time with the Enhanced Drying System (EDS)² and up to a 200 percent increase in sterile aseptic area.³ On this Beyond Clean Vendor Spotlight™ we talk with Michael Strand, Regional Sales Director at Aesculap AIC about the ways these containers may provide an immediate impact to patient outcomes, operational efficiency, sustainability, and staff satisfaction. Tune in to hear how Aesculap's constant innovation offers the most comprehensive, FDA-approved selection of container sizes and applications on the market, including steam, IUSS and ETO modalities. Visit Aesculap online at aesculapusa.com and check out the Aesculap Academy at educate.beyondclean.net/aesculap. Get updates on products and services by following Aesculap (US) on LinkedIn. #VendorSpotlight #AesculapUSA #Efficiency #Sustainability #SterileProcessing #Quality #RigidContainer #Containers #PatientSafety #OperatingRoom #BeyondClean #WeFightDirty #SPD #CSSD #SPS #Surgery #MDR ¹ According to ECRI data from May 2020 to June 2021 ² With AESCULAP Aicon EDS models. Data on file. ³ Data on file.