What are the advantages of using disposable medical supplies?

Both reusable and single-use medical supplies have their place in the healthcare system, but when it comes to supporting aseptic practices that help reduce rates of healthcare-associated infection (HAI), disposable medical supplies provide what reusable supplies cannot a certain degree of certainty.

Using disposable hospital supplies can help stop the spread of infection, save money and manage hospital resources. No one disputes that reusable hospital supplies can limit healthcare costs and support a cleaner environment. However, the processing required to make reusable supplies contamination-free has multiple touchpoints. Inadequate reprocessing of medical supplies can leave behind bodily fluids and tissues, potentially exposing the next patient to HAIs.

In the ICU, HAI can mean the difference between life and death, with access to critical and semi-critical disposables, supplies that may come into contact with sterile body tissue, blood, mucous membranes, or incomplete skin, greatly limiting the risk of cross-contamination. In extreme situations such as a pandemic, rapid access to prepackaged sterile supplies allows workers to keep up with rising censuses while limiting their own exposure to highly contagious viruses.

Good healthcare practice not only protects patients but frontline workers as well. Protection against respiratory viruses goes beyond having adequate PPE. During a virus, disposable ventilator circuits are sometimes the only way to limit the aerosolization of viral particles. These single-use circuits act as a barrier between the virus and the bedside healthcare staff, as long as they are replaced on a schedule set by the manufacturer.