SteriNext
Every operation in Germany relies on properly reprocessed sterile instruments: scissors, retractors, and countless other tools go through a highly complex cycle of cleaning, disinfection, inspection, packaging, and sterilization in the Central Sterile Services Department (CSSD). Delays or quality issues in this process not only put patients at risk through nosocomial infections but also cost hospitals real money: every postponed minute of OR time adds up to more than 60 euros. While other areas of the hospital, such as the operating room, have long had established benchmarking solutions, CSSDs still lack a tool to objectively compare their own performance against other facilities and improve it in a targeted way.
Approach
Building on a pilot study with around 50 participating CSSDs and prior work carried out at the Chair of Medical Engineering as part of the CSSD Benchmark project, the team is developing an online platform that captures process, cost, and performance data from reprocessing and evaluates and interprets it on a scientifically sound basis. At its core is a so far unique module for automatically calculating the cost of reprocessing individual instrument trays, a metric that until now every CSSD has had to determine on its own, a time-consuming and inconsistent process. This is complemented by live dashboards, a planned anonymous reporting system for safety-relevant incidents (CIRS), and on-demand services such as ergonomics analyses. An advisory board made up of interested CSSDs accompanies the development from the very start, ensuring the solution stays close to practice.
Goal
As a neutral, vendor-independent authority, SteriNext creates transparency and comparability for the first time in a resource- and cost-intensive hospital area with high relevance to patient safety, while also contributing to resource conservation and the circular economy in healthcare. The goal of this two-year project is to spin off an independent company that will make the benchmark available to hospitals and reprocessing facilities across Germany.
Project Partner
- Mentoring by Dr. Frank Portheine
Funding
Co-funded by the European Union and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection, and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Funding Initiative: ERDF/JTF Startup-Transfer.NRW Program
Grant Code: EFRE – 20801631
Project term: 2026 - 2028
Publications
- J. Heibeyn, A. Janß, F. Deinet, R. Stens & K. Radermacher: AEMP-Benchmarking in der Praxis: Ergebnisse der Aachener Pilotstudie. Zentralsterilisation, 2024, 32(5), pp. 242-248
- J. Heibeyn, O. Jansen, K. Wiese, F. Deinet, M. Roitsch, R. Stens, A. Janß & K. Radermacher: Ableitung von Anforderungen an eine AEMP-Benchmark. Zentralsterilisation, 2022, 30(5), pp. 228–234
- J. Heibeyn, O. Jansen, A. Janß & K. Radermacher: Erstellung eines Vergleichskriterien-Katalogs für AEMP-Prozesse. Zentralsterilisation Abstractheft 25. Fachkongress der Aufbereitung von Medizinprodukten, 30, 2022, pp. 36-37
- J. Heibeyn, P. Gödde, P. Görtz, A. Janß & K. Radermacher: Ermittlung von Leistungsfaktoren im Rahmen der Instrumentenaufbereitung zur gezielten Workflowunterstützung. Zentralsterilisation Abstractheft 25 Jahre DGSV e.V. - 24. Fachkongress der Aufbereitung von Medizinprodukten, 29, 2021, pp. 7-9