Researchers undertook a 90-day study to assess the cost-effectiveness and user satisfaction of a single-use flexible cystoscope in a tertiary care facility. Advances in single-use flexible cystoscopes have created alternatives to reusable scopes. However, there were few studies investigating the implementation of a hospital-based switch to single-use cystoscopes in terms of cost-effectiveness and provider satisfaction.
The AMBU aScope was used for all flexible, transurethral, and percutaneous urologic treatment during a 90-day trial period (November 1, 2020–January 29, 2021) after the device received institutional permission. To compare the costs of the reusable flexible cystoscope (including maintenance and processing) to the disposable devices, they ran a micro-costing analysis. In addition, on a 10-point Likert scale, provider surveys evaluated visual quality, deflection, channel usability, and overall satisfaction.
They met 84 instances (78 operational, 5 inpatients, and 1 emergency department) during the course of the 90-day period when flexible cystoscopy was necessary. In 78 out of 84 (93%) instances, a single disposable flexible cystoscope was effectively employed. 2 of the 6 failures occurred due to not having access to a disposable scope or monitor. At the facility, the cost per usage of the reusable flexible cystoscope was $272.41 as opposed to $185.00 for single use. By extrapolating the usual case volume and cautious failure rate (3 single-use failures/month, needing reusable), we can calculate the yearly cost reduction from switching to primarily single-use scopes as $39,142.84.
The 90-day study of disposable flexible cystoscopy at a single location found that using a single-use flexible cystoscope at a high-volume tertiary care facility resulted in lower per-use expenses.
Reference: goldjournal.net/article/S0090-4295(22)00520-9/fulltext
