ScanCARE Blog

Surgical Instrument Product Families for Ophthalmologists

The new version of AS/NZS 4187 released on the 15^th December last year brought some very significant changes to the previous standard. One of the most significant changes is the standards reference to Product Families.

In a previous blog, I provided an overview of ISO/TS 17665-3:2013 - Sterilization of health care products - Moist heat - Part 3: Guidance on the designation of a medical device to a product family and processing category for steam sterilization.

Today I will get into the specifics of how to apply the standard to a Cataract Tray. Let's take a look at how to do that.

If you’re a member of the Dental Health community you’re probably aware that a lot has happened in the last 12 months. I am referring to infection control breaches that have happened
in New South Wales. Around the same time two documents were released that have the express purpose of preventing such issues.

They are:

• AS4187 2014
• The Australian Dental Association Guidelines for Infection Control Third Edition 2015.

Infection Control has become a hot topic and the Australian Dental Board's release of an open letter  dated 16^th July 2015 reminding Dental Practitioners of their Infection control obligations under the National Law is testament to that.

With this blog, I will try to provide some guidance through the maze of standards and guidelines and provide dental practitioners with a list of relevant documentation for further reading.

On the 15^th December last year, a new version of AS/NZS 4187 was released. The standard is complex and there is so much to understand. There are many requirements. So what can you do to ensure your ophthalmic centre is compliant?

Previously I wrote about the new version  of AS/NZS 4187 (what it means for day surgeries and a reference table to AS4187 terminology for CDS Managers) which was released on the 15^th December last year. It has brought some very significant changes to the previous standard. In this blog post I discuss the standard's application to the reprocessing of flexible endoscopes.

The new version of AS/NZS4187 released on the 15^th December last year, contains a number of differences in terminology to the previous version. The new standard also uses abbreviations.

This blog contains a list of the abbreviations and their meanings and looks at some of the important differences in terminology.

The new version of AS4187 (AS/NZS 4187) released on the 15^th December last year brought some very significant changes to the previous standard. One of the most significant changes is the standards reference to Product Families.

On the 15^th December last year, a new version of AS/NZS 4187 was released. The standard is complex and there is so much to understand. So how do you know if your Day Surgery Clinic is compliant or not?

When it comes down to it, probably the only way to know for sure is have and keep the required documentation.

For an auditor, documentation of process and proof of process is everything. Say what you do and have proof that you're doing it. But in the case of AS4187, it's do what it says and have proof you’re doing it.

A new version of AS/NZS 4187 was released on the 15th December last year and, given that there is a 2 year adoption period specified, office based healthcare facilities in particular need to familiairise themselves with this updated standard.