What Infection Prevention and Cardiology Teams Need to Know About TEE Reprocessing
When evaluating new high-level disinfection (HLD) systems for TEE probes, one question consistently arises:
“Will this pass Joint Commission?”
For infection prevention leaders, this is a compliance question.
For cardiology teams, it’s a workflow protection question.
Both matter.
What Joint Commission Actually Evaluates
The Joint Commission does not approve or certify individual medical devices. Instead, it surveys healthcare facilities to evaluate whether they comply with established safety and infection prevention standards. You can review how accreditation works directly through The Joint Commission’s overview.
During surveys, inspectors evaluate whether hospitals:
- Follow CDC disinfection guidance
- Use appropriate high-level disinfection for semi-critical devices
- Adhere to manufacturer Instructions for Use (IFU)
- Maintain documentation and traceability
- Ensure staff competency
- Maintain equipment appropriately
For TEE probes, classified as semi-critical devices, high-level disinfection is required between patient uses. The CDC outlines expectations for disinfection and sterilization of healthcare equipment here.
Inspection-readiness is not about the device alone, it is about whether the system supports compliance within daily workflow.
The Five Elements of Inspection-Ready High-Level Disinfection
To support compliance during Joint Commission surveys, high-level disinfection systems should address five key elements.
1. FDA Clearance
A system must operate within a recognized regulatory framework. The FDA’s 510(k) clearance pathway confirms that a medical device is substantially equivalent in safety and effectiveness to a legally marketed predicate device.
Regulatory clearance provides institutional confidence that a system has undergone formal review.
2. Validated High-Level Disinfection
High-level disinfection must achieve required microbial reductions under validated testing conditions. Validation ensures consistent performance under defined challenge parameters, not only under ideal laboratory scenarios.
For infection prevention teams, validation data supports defensibility during inspections.
UV Smart provides clinical validation methodology including worst-case testing principles and performance validation in its published studies. You can request more in addition to the publicly available ones we on this site.
This transparency allows facilities to evaluate how performance data aligns with regulatory expectations.
3. Clear, Followable Instructions for Use (IFU)
Surveyors frequently assess whether staff can describe and demonstrate correct workflow steps.
A compliant HLD system should clearly define:
- Pre-cleaning requirements
- Device placement parameters
- Disinfection cycle steps
- User responsibilities
Detailed Instructions for Use and workflow guidance for the D60 system are available through UV Smart’s product documentation and support resources.
Clear documentation reduces ambiguity during inspection interviews.
4. Traceability and Documentation
This is often where manual or chemical-dependent processes encounter difficulty.
Surveyors may request:
- Cycle logs
- User identification
- Time stamps
- Device identification
- Pass/fail documentation
Automated tracking helps reduce variability and administrative burden.
UV Smart’s D60 system includes automated cycle documentation with badge-based user identification, device ID tracking, timestamps, and exportable reporting to support audit and infection control records.
For infection prevention leaders, this supports reproducibility.
For cardiology teams, it protects workflow continuity.
5. Maintenance and Inspection Programs
Surveyors often review preventive maintenance documentation to ensure sustained performance over time.
An inspection-ready HLD system should include:
- Preventive maintenance schedules
- Performance verification checks
- Service documentation
- Ongoing performance monitoring
UV Smart’s service and maintenance framework includes structured preventive maintenance planning and ongoing performance support to help facilities maintain validated operation.
Consistency over time is as important as performance on day one.
Why This Matters for Cardiology Workflow
While infection prevention teams focus on compliance, cardiology departments operate in high-throughput, time-sensitive environments.
TEE probes are essential for:
- Structural heart procedures
- Intraoperative imaging
- ICU diagnostics
- Electrophysiology cases
Reprocessing delays can impact:
- Case scheduling
- Patient turnover
- OR efficiency
- Department capacity
A compliant system that disrupts workflow creates tension.
A fast system without validated performance creates risk.
UV Smart’s D60 was developed for semi-critical devices such as ENT endoscopes and TEE probes, supporting efficient reprocessing within structured, validated parameters.
The goal is alignment, validated high-level disinfection that integrates smoothly into cardiology workflow.
Compliance Should Be Designed In
When hospitals evaluate TEE reprocessing systems, the question should not be:
“Can we defend this during inspection?”
It should be:
“Was this system designed with regulatory alignment and traceability from the beginning?”
UV Smart’s approach to high-level disinfection, including regulatory alignment, validation transparency, and structured documentation, is further explored within the UV Academy resource center:
https://www.uvsmart.nl/academy
Inspection-readiness is not an add-on feature.
It is a system-level design principle.
A Shared Goal: Safety, Efficiency, and Confidence
Infection prevention leaders want compliance certainty.
Cardiology teams want reliable probe availability and efficient turnover.
When validated high-level disinfection aligns with documentation, traceability, and workflow efficiency, adoption becomes significantly easier.
And that is often when meaningful operational improvement begins.
We believe in transparency. Should you be interested in learning more about how we optimize your workflow, enhance patient safety, reduce recurring costs, reach us here for a brief 15 minute phone call.
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