So we promised to go over some of the items on our list of considerations when purchasing an AER (Automated Endoscopic Reprocessor) from our March 28^th article "Choosing and AER". There's obviously so many things to consider besides just the type of AER and budget that it may seem daunting. But here's one of the basic considerations that may be helpful to consider when you're in the market for an AER. Let's go into some of the details today on the "Overall Cost Per Cycle".

There's a number of variables to consider when you're looking at the overall cost per cycle. And there's additional costs from items we won't cover in this article like electrical and the cost of the space it takes up. So it's arguable that this section might be called "Gross overall cost per cycle". But let's look at some of the more direct costs per cycle items to consider.

Cycle Time: "How long will it take to properly clean and disinfect your scope inventory?"

Well you might think the time it takes only has to do with the actual cycle time of the AER itself. But with the massive amount of differences between these amazing machines there's also other "time" related factors like human intervention (if any) to consider. But let's look at "Cycle Time" first.

AER machine cycle time

You'd think the cycle time would be an easy topic. Push the "on" button and wait to see how long it takes, right? The machines themselves may be that easy, but calculating the actual cycle time is not. Yes, some AER systems have a quicker cycle times than others if you're setting the stop watch. But some offer the ability to clean and disinfect multiple scopes at once. This is a huge factor for comparison when it comes to cycle times.

Another factor is that some offer a single basin that is able to clean multiple scopes at once (which also saves on energy costs). And others offer dual basins. Some of the dual basins even offer independent cycle times which makes this topic even harder to nail down. But the objective of this article is just to get you thinking about these things so that you can select the best automated endoscopic reprocessor for your specific needs.

So with regards to nailing down your specific needs you should consider your volume and scope inventory.If your facility has a high procedure volume but a limited number of scopes then you may want to consider an AER that has the shortest actual cycle time. But if you have a high volume and a large number of scopes the best choice might be to choose an AER that can handle two or more scopes at once.

Human Interaction

The next consideration with regards to cycle time is the amount of time your staff will still expend doing the manual steps necessary in the scope cleaning and maintenance process. Some newer AERs may have slower cycle times because they've reduced or removed steps that you previously had to perform manually. So at first, their cycle times seem longer, but if these added features are saving your staff time that has to be considered as well.

There may be other advantages as well with regards to safety by reducing or eliminating manual steps that your staff has to perform. Having less interaction with these infected scopes reduces the possibility of accidents and may improve the overall cleaning process which can increase the safety for your patients as well. But that's a topic for another article.