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VA Health Care: Improvements in Oversight Needed for Reusable Medical Equipment

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Report Type Reports and Testimonies
Report Date Sept. 5, 2018
Release Date Sept. 5, 2018
Report No. GAO-18-686T
Summary:

Reusable medical equipment (such as flexible, camera-bearing endoscopes) must be reprocessed between uses—that is, it must be cleaned, disinfected, or sterilized. The Veterans Health Administration has rules for such steps and oversees the process at VA medical centers.

We testified that VHA did not have reprocessing inspection results for all its facilities, so it can't ensure that its medical centers are following its rules. VHA also doesn't know whether it has enough staff for its reprocessing programs.

We've recommended that VHA take steps to ensure that these inspections occur, and that the agency examine its staffing needs.

An endoscope is a kind of reusable medical equipment

This is a photo of clinicians using an endoscope

This is a photo of clinicians using an endoscope

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