Innovation and adaption during the COVID-19 pandemic
A new article, “Innovation in a Time of Crisis” in Harvard Business Publishing- Corporate Learning, predicts that the coronavirus pandemic will result in many new innovations, and that times of crisis force us to solve problems because of our innate desire to help and to connect with others.
This forward-looking essay states that four key shifts occur during times of crisis that create opportunities for new thinking, engagement, and drive our desire to help:
- Uniting around a purpose: A crisis often initiates a huge shift in energy with the potential to create organizational momentum to support one purpose.
- Seeing the system differently: A crisis highlights our vulnerabilities and creates opportunities for innovation.
- Unfreezing the organization: A crisis eliminates any sense of stability within organizations, which establishes the need for quick thinking and decision making.
- Creating bias towards action: A crisis demands an increase in the pace of ideation, decision making and implementation.
Now more than ever, Sterifre Medical recognizes the need for innovation within infection prevention, and the coronavirus pandemic continues to expose the vulnerabilities of current device disinfection methods. Various studies show that disinfectant wipes and sprays:
- Create a significant risk of users developing COPD;4
- Further contaminate surfaces when applied incorrectly;10,36
- Damage medical devices from chemical reside left on surfaces;6
- Create environmental issues;7
- Are often used improperly due to the manual and time-consuming protocols.11
Despite these well-documented challenges, device disinfection procedures have not changed much in the past 100 years- using a cloth, wipe or spray to distribute disinfectant chemicals onto a surface.
There is an urgent need for modernized, innovative device disinfection, especially during these unprecedented times. Sterifre’s AURA system is the first automated, point of care disinfection system that will aid frontline healthcare workers in the fight against COVID-19.
AURA can be used on a broad range of items without exposing healthcare workers to chemical disinfectants or damaging devices. One AURA-D disinfectant cartridge can replace 22 canisters disinfectant wipes each. In the current pandemic and beyond, this solves many of the manufacturing, environmental and logistics challenges hospitals face.
AURA will be available upon EPA registration and individual state approvals, where applicable.
