Faster Disinfection Speeds Patient Throughput
Optimizing patient throughput is essential to maintaining a well-operated healthcare facility. Inefficient throughput leads to fewer patients getting the care they need along with a wasteful use of resources—which can lead to a net loss in revenue. Speed is a key evaluation metric when implementing disinfection solutions.
What is UVC Disinfection?
Ultraviolet-C (UVC) disinfection is one type of no-touch technology shown to be a successful adjunct to manual cleaning. According to the FDA, UVC radiation is a known disinfectant for air and nonporous surfaces. UVC technology deploys UV light to penetrate the cell walls of spores, bacteria and viruses and renders these harmful pathogens unable to reproduce and spread after treatment with UVC energy. UVC radiation has effectively been used for decades to reduce the spread of bacteria and harmful pathogens. When bundled with manual cleaning and disinfection protocols, the technology significantly reduces patient exposure to HAIs.
UVC Disinfection Can Help Speed Patient Room Turnover Time
By utilizing proper dosage, specific UVC systems can reduce microorganisms while also measuring, recording, and reporting the necessary amount of UVC light delivered to targeted areas. Disinfection takes time, but deploying the right UVC system can speed up the process by reducing harmful pathogens in a shorter time frame, which allows for room turnover to happen at a faster rate. As an adjunct to manual cleaning, it’s crucial to have a system that will deliver the right dose in the fastest treatment time. This can permit organizations to generate greater revenue through increased patient turnaround and surgical procedures.
How to Choose the Best UVC System
In today’s healthcare environment, hospitals need to choose technologies that can be measured and are able to provide the data needed to show proof of UVC dosing and compliance. UVC devices should be easily accessible to high-touch surface areas. Those surfaces need the most direct light to effectively and efficiently rid them of harmful, HAI-causing pathogens. UVC radiation can only inactivate a virus if the virus is directly exposed to the radiation. If a surface is under a shadow, it won’t be disinfected. Some UVC systems don’t administer the proper cumulative dose and miss areas that may contain dangerous pathogens.
The right UVC system should measure the delivered UVC dose and have a “pause and reposition” feature that helps operators ensure targeted areas of the room have received optimal dosage to kill harmful pathogens. This technology helps staff quickly disinfect crucial areas and return rooms to service.
Additionally, measuring the delivered UVC dose, tracking treatment data, monitoring effectiveness, and sharing with necessary stakeholders are important functions of UVC light technology. Using patented remote UVC sensors and pausing and repositioning the UVC system, helps address variables such as room shape and other obstacles that might prevent areas from being disinfected.
Contact us to learn more about UVC disinfection.
