Überhöhte Sterilisations- und Verbrauchsmaterialkosten durch ineffiziente Prozesse

Definition

National guidance for dental infection prevention and control requires structured environmental cleaning and instrument reprocessing schedules, aligned with NHMRC Guidelines and Australian Standards (e.g., AS 5369 for reusable medical devices).[3][4] Practices must document sterilisation validation, daily monitoring logs, and ensure products used for cleaning and disinfection are listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, following manufacturer instructions and recommended frequencies.[4] In manual setups, staff often run partially loaded steriliser cycles, over‑use single‑use items to avoid documentation issues, and spend significant time on paper logs and audits, increasing labour and consumable costs. LOGIC: if a dental assistant spends 30–45 minutes per day extra on manual sterilisation documentation and chasing missing batch data (approx. 2.5–4 hours/week), at an effective labour cost of AUD 30–40/hour, this equates to AUD 3,900–8,300 per year. Over‑processing and conservative use of consumables for infection control (e.g., extra barrier wraps, wipes, indicators) can easily add another AUD 2,000–10,000 annually for a small to medium practice, especially under strict audit regimes. Combined, inefficient infection control and sterilisation workflows often create AUD 5,000–25,000 of avoidable annual overhead.

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Dental clinics in Australia 🇦🇺 waste AUD 5,000–25,000 per year per practice on excess consumables, duplicated sterilisation loads and manual record‑keeping. Automation and digital traceability of sterilisation and stock management can cut these costs significantly.

Affected Stakeholders

Practice owner, Practice manager, Dental assistants, Sterilisation technician, Infection control coordinator

Related Business Risks