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Disposable Scopes Are Likely to Play A Larger Role at Small-Volume Centers
T
he FDA approved the first disposable colonoscope in 2016, but one-time-use scopes have yet to enter the U.S. market.
A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University suggests that the market best suited for these scopes is likely to be at smaller, lower-volume endoscopy centers.
“We found that the cost to use reusable scopes is volume dependent and also dependent on how many scopes you have,” study investigator Susan Hutfless, PhD, the director of Johns Hopkins’ Gastrointestinal Epidemiology Research Center, told Priority Report. “If, for example, an ambulatory surgical center is doing 3,000 colonoscopies per year and owns 20 colonoscopes, we estimate that it costs them just over $200 per use of that colonoscope to reprocess it. For that practice, the
break-even point on cost for a disposable would have to be around that point. In addition, if an infection is coming from mistakes that happen during the reprocessing of the scope, a disposable colonoscope in theory should decrease a practice’s infection rate.” Dr. Hutfless and her colleagues assessed the costs (cleaning, capital and operating) associated with current reusable scopes and found that these costs ranged from $189 per procedure at centers that perform at least 3,000
Endoscope Reprocessing & Infection Control
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