Claire C Baniel, Katie E Lichter, Melissa A Frick, Jaclyn Wu, Eniola Oladipo, Yufan Fred Wu, Aneesh SwamyS, I-Chow Hsu, Nicolas Prionas, Erik S Blomain, Elizabeth A Kidd, Mark K Buyyounouski, Glenn Rosenbluth, Osama Mohamad, Hilary P Bagshaw
{"title":"NorCal近距离治疗废物审计:一个简单的,有效的,工具包,临床医生领导的废物减少。","authors":"Claire C Baniel, Katie E Lichter, Melissa A Frick, Jaclyn Wu, Eniola Oladipo, Yufan Fred Wu, Aneesh SwamyS, I-Chow Hsu, Nicolas Prionas, Erik S Blomain, Elizabeth A Kidd, Mark K Buyyounouski, Glenn Rosenbluth, Osama Mohamad, Hilary P Bagshaw","doi":"10.1016/j.brachy.2025.01.002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The healthcare system is resource intensive, and many opportunities exist to reduce medical waste. Brachytherapists performing inherently resource intensive procedures are well poised to initiate the transition to sustainable, climate-smart care. The authors developed a quality improvement-based (QI) NorCal Brachytherapy Waste Audit Toolkit to guide medical waste reduction in brachytherapy procedures and provide climate health education.</p><p><strong>Methods and materials: </strong>The NorCal Brachytherapy Waste Audit Toolkit was validated through brachytherapy waste audits conducted at 2 neighboring hospitals between 2021 and 2023. Waste was categorized into biohazardous waste, nonbiohazardous waste, and anesthesia waste and was weighed and cataloged after each procedure using a standard template by auditors not involved in the brachytherapy case. Findings were analyzed for key drivers of waste production and high impact interventions were selected.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Postaudit results demonstrate biohazardous waste reduction of greater than 50%, elimination of over 90% improper biohazardous waste sorting, cost savings ($4.22/kg) and a reduction in landfill waste by over 20%. The Toolkit was made public online and over 18 months, was accessed by 34 distinct individuals from 21 healthcare organizations across 7 countries and led to waste reduction projects in multiple specialties including radiation oncology, emergency medicine, and pediatrics.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>A QI-based NorCal Brachytherapy Waste Audit Toolkit may help radiation oncologists and healthcare teams beyond radiation oncology reduce waste and contribute toward environmentally sustainable healthcare.</p>","PeriodicalId":93914,"journal":{"name":"Brachytherapy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"The NorCal brachytherapy waste audit: A simple, validated, toolkit for clinician led waste reduction.\",\"authors\":\"Claire C Baniel, Katie E Lichter, Melissa A Frick, Jaclyn Wu, Eniola Oladipo, Yufan Fred Wu, Aneesh SwamyS, I-Chow Hsu, Nicolas Prionas, Erik S Blomain, Elizabeth A Kidd, Mark K Buyyounouski, Glenn Rosenbluth, Osama Mohamad, Hilary P Bagshaw\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.brachy.2025.01.002\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The healthcare system is resource intensive, and many opportunities exist to reduce medical waste. Brachytherapists performing inherently resource intensive procedures are well poised to initiate the transition to sustainable, climate-smart care. The authors developed a quality improvement-based (QI) NorCal Brachytherapy Waste Audit Toolkit to guide medical waste reduction in brachytherapy procedures and provide climate health education.</p><p><strong>Methods and materials: </strong>The NorCal Brachytherapy Waste Audit Toolkit was validated through brachytherapy waste audits conducted at 2 neighboring hospitals between 2021 and 2023. Waste was categorized into biohazardous waste, nonbiohazardous waste, and anesthesia waste and was weighed and cataloged after each procedure using a standard template by auditors not involved in the brachytherapy case. Findings were analyzed for key drivers of waste production and high impact interventions were selected.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Postaudit results demonstrate biohazardous waste reduction of greater than 50%, elimination of over 90% improper biohazardous waste sorting, cost savings ($4.22/kg) and a reduction in landfill waste by over 20%. The Toolkit was made public online and over 18 months, was accessed by 34 distinct individuals from 21 healthcare organizations across 7 countries and led to waste reduction projects in multiple specialties including radiation oncology, emergency medicine, and pediatrics.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>A QI-based NorCal Brachytherapy Waste Audit Toolkit may help radiation oncologists and healthcare teams beyond radiation oncology reduce waste and contribute toward environmentally sustainable healthcare.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":93914,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Brachytherapy\",\"volume\":\" \",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-03-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Brachytherapy\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brachy.2025.01.002\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"\",\"JCRName\":\"\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Brachytherapy","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brachy.2025.01.002","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
The NorCal brachytherapy waste audit: A simple, validated, toolkit for clinician led waste reduction.
Purpose: The healthcare system is resource intensive, and many opportunities exist to reduce medical waste. Brachytherapists performing inherently resource intensive procedures are well poised to initiate the transition to sustainable, climate-smart care. The authors developed a quality improvement-based (QI) NorCal Brachytherapy Waste Audit Toolkit to guide medical waste reduction in brachytherapy procedures and provide climate health education.
Methods and materials: The NorCal Brachytherapy Waste Audit Toolkit was validated through brachytherapy waste audits conducted at 2 neighboring hospitals between 2021 and 2023. Waste was categorized into biohazardous waste, nonbiohazardous waste, and anesthesia waste and was weighed and cataloged after each procedure using a standard template by auditors not involved in the brachytherapy case. Findings were analyzed for key drivers of waste production and high impact interventions were selected.
Results: Postaudit results demonstrate biohazardous waste reduction of greater than 50%, elimination of over 90% improper biohazardous waste sorting, cost savings ($4.22/kg) and a reduction in landfill waste by over 20%. The Toolkit was made public online and over 18 months, was accessed by 34 distinct individuals from 21 healthcare organizations across 7 countries and led to waste reduction projects in multiple specialties including radiation oncology, emergency medicine, and pediatrics.
Conclusion: A QI-based NorCal Brachytherapy Waste Audit Toolkit may help radiation oncologists and healthcare teams beyond radiation oncology reduce waste and contribute toward environmentally sustainable healthcare.