Project report: Augenärzte am Aegi

New Solution for VE Water Supply in Outpatient Practices and Medical Centers (MVZs)

Reference Project “Augenärzte am Aegi,” Hannover, Successfully Implemented

The increasing number of outpatient surgical procedures and the shortage of personnel in affected practices lead to peak loads in the AEMP, particularly in sterile goods supply and technology.
Technologically, it is now described in both the AKI Red Book and two guidelines of the DGSV that an AEMP must operate for media supply for steam generation with significantly lower limit values to keep devices and instruments intact in the operational process. This significantly reduces operating costs.

Considering all influencing factors, we have developed new equipment technology for water treatment in outpatient clinics, which has been used since March 2023 as an innovative market novelty (“ambulant clinical solutions“) in an eye surgery center.

In ophthalmology, high-quality water used for cleaning and disinfection equipment and sterilizers is relevant.

Under the leadership of Dr. Stefan Nikolic, the “Augenärzte am Aegi,” Hannover, have agreed to be the first operators to use our media preparation technology in practice.

Dr. Nikolic explains, “We are a group practice and eye clinic with diagnostics, conservative therapy, and an outpatient surgery center. Several operating doctors are working in our facility. We perform up to 35 surgeries daily, requiring a large amount of operating instruments to be cleaned. For this purpose, we use two cleaning and disinfection devices (RDGs) and two sterilizers that must be fed with so-called VE water. Protecting the instruments and device technology is important to us. Our previous VE water production system required frequent maintenance and experienced downtime, especially during peak loads. In ongoing operation, this is unacceptable, as a halt in media supply (VE water supply) would disrupt our surgical operations. The offer from Gebr. Heyl Vertriebsgesellschaft für innovative Wasseraufbereitung mbH, Hildesheim, to serve as a reference customer for this new innovative equipment technology came at the right time.”

The novel modular water treatment system was commissioned as a reference system in our ongoing surgical operations at the end of April 2023. Before installation and commissioning, the quality of the inlet water and the demand for VE water were assessed and defined.

To ensure supply, it was necessary, on the recommendation of experts, to install a pressure boosting system in the building to ensure adequate water pressure for system and device operation under full load. The actual installation and commissioning time for the “clinic solution” typically range from 6 to 8 hours. Supply security during this time is ensured through a bridging concept.

The modularity of the system design is advantageous as it meets all demands. With a nine-stage safety concept, the system in our facility provides maximum protection against particles, hardness, silicates, chlorine, stagnation contamination, leakage, and pyrogen contamination. This protects device technology and instruments, resulting in reduced operating costs, instrument management, and procurement, as well as minimizing patient risks. The VE water system has a small footprint of 1.6 m² and seamlessly integrates into our premises.

The system components are housed in two lockable cabinets, providing optimal protection against dust, dirt, and moisture. Dr. Nikolic reports satisfaction, “We have already noticed that we no longer have unexpected maintenance requirements, which relieves our staff. Downtimes are no longer an issue. The most important aspects for us are that the system provides the highest level of security and operates as autonomously as possible.”

The system design complies with the current state of technology and knowledge. The new limit values for water constituents published by the German Society for Sterile Supply e.V. since October 2022 have been fully considered.

We thank Gebr. Heyl Vertriebsgesellschaft für innovative Wasseraufbereitung mbH, Hildesheim, for the opportunity to be the first outpatient surgical center in Germany to use “ambulant clinical solutions” and can recommend the product without hesitation. We are not only optimizing our processes and reducing costs but also increasing patient safety and striving for the best surgical outcomes.