FACILITIES & OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Ultraviolet Light Disinfection Systems For operating room treatments Germicidal ultraviolet light (UV-C) disinfection reduces healthcare-associated infections. The time it takes to disinfect an operating room is not constant (e.g., not ‘20 minutes per room’). Recent industrial engineering studies show how to make operating room management decisions for the robotic systems, whether for one case or terminal cleaning. Franklin Dexter, Division of Management Consulting, Department of Anesthesia, University of Iowa
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ermicidal ultraviolet light disinfection contributes to reducing bacterial transmission and surgical site infections. Treatment may reduce Coronavirus disease 2019. However, using ultraviolet light robotic disinfection systems in practice in surgical suites depends in part on the time they take for disinfection. Three recent industrial engineering studies help understand the best possible operating room management for ultraviolet disinfection. From the references, these papers were published in the American Journal of Infection Control, Cureus, and the Journal of Clinical Anesthesia, respectively. When ultraviolet disinfection is being used, operating room management is not straightforward because the treatment times differ among rooms and treatments of the same room. The figure shows the ultraviolet disinfection times for the 133,831 treatments described in the Cureus paper. Surfacide sent the data for the research studies. The mean time was 18 minutes and the 90th percentile was 26 minutes. The ratio of the 90th percentile to the mean (i.e., the proportional variability) was comparable to that for surgery. Just like surgical
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A SI A N H O S P I T A L & H EA LT HCA R E M A N AGE M E N T
IS S UE - 54, 2021
