The processes of the central sterile services department (CSSD) are crucial for maintaining healthcare and preventing nosocomial infections. Against the background of challenges (shortage of skilled labour, scarcity of resources, …), continuous (comparative) evaluation and improvement of the processes is necessary. One current difficulty is the lack of comparability of process performance between individual CSSDs, as well as the lack of consideration of the performance shaping factors that influence process performance.
The aim of the ongoing project is to develop an CSSD-benchmark, taking into account the needs of all stakeholders (CSSDs, DGSV e.V., authorities, operators). The Aachen CSSD-benchmark is used to compare individual CSSD processes and identify starting points for improvement. In 2023-24, an initial pilot benchmark was carried out in collaboration with the DGSV e.V., in which about 50 CSSDs took part. The benchmark data was evaluated and presented at the DGSV Congress and published in the journal ‘Zentralsterilisation’1.
As the interface for entering data into the benchmark was identified as a limiting factor, further investigations into the usability of the user interfaces were carried out from April 2024 to March 2025 with funding from the Richard and Annemarie Wolf Foundation. A benchmarking web platform was developed, which supports the completion of the benchmark by means of assistance functions. The web platform was supplemented with additional supporting functionalities such as a knowledge database and a CIRS system for cross-CSSD risk reports. Further work deals with the individualised evaluation of the benchmarking data and the presentation of the results to support improvements in terms of quality, sustainability and economy.
1 J. Heibeyn, A. Janß, F. Deinet, R. Stens & K. Radermacher: AEMP-Benchmarking in der Praxis: Ergebnisse der Aachener Pilotstudie. Zentralsterilisation, 2024, 32(5), pp. 242-248
