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Just wondering if anyone knows of options that are available? and cost? had a look in the yellow pages and google but with little luck. I have found Smiths sterilisation?

thanks for any help,
Ben

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Hi Ben. I'm in private practice in Adelaide. I have my own sterilisers so I do it on site. I'm not aware of hospitals say providing a sterilising service. You can pick up 2nd hand sterilisers just make sure they have been tested properly/calibrated. Sterilising is an expensive but necessary part of practicing. I saw a Physio recently & was very happy with the service so not complaing about the $76 fee (manipulative physio - hands on, no machines) - but when I compare my costs for seeing a patient for routine footcare compared with what costs the Physio had, Podiatry is an expensive service to provide. And sterilising is one of the biggies. Not sure what area you are in but as an option you could approach another Pod. in your area & come to some agreement on sterilising your instruments.

Thanks for the reply Mark

From what i have heard to get it done, though a private sterilization company, the cost is around $3-4 a set. This can end up being quite expensive if you are seeing 20 odd pts a day ($80 per day). One would have to imagine that doing the Autoclaving yourself, would end up being a fair bit cheaper (need to do the sums on this). Other issues are that it has to be stored somewhere and be servied etc.
I’m working out of North Adelaide. There are a few medical practices in the area. Might be worthwhile visiting a few.
Seemed like a straight forward task but is getting quite indepth now

It sounds expensive but I can vaguely recall APodC or someone calculating that the cost to the Podiatrist of providing a sterilised set of instruments per patient was somewhere around the $10-13 mark (this includes staff time to clean, pack, process, track, sterilise etc). It's a big expense. With increasing costs to meet OH&S requirements, it may eventually be cheaper to utilise an external service than doing it yourself.

Hi

I remember talking to a pod years ago who had moved from SA and he used to use a service over there his details are below:

John Georgaras
119 Millers Rd Altona North VIC 3025
ph: (03) 9314 9987

Cheers
Stuart Blyth

Most public and private hospital sterilizing departments will process instruments from outside clients. Many GP clinics use hospital services as the complience costs and initial outlays drop.
Depending on how you want your instruments packaged (trays or bags, singles or sets) will affect cost. A tray is about $10, individual $3. There is also a growing number of disposable instruments available, such as metal scalpel handles ($1.10 ea) and scissors ($2) available from Multigate.

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Stephen Tucker
Calvary Health Care

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$10 per set seems quite expensive. That would be a daily steri bill of at least $200 (assuming 20 pts a day is avg).
What does it cost for the annual calibration and testing of the autoclave?
Might be worth starting a biomechanic only clinic

But you dont need a full set for most. A nail set (clippers/file /blacks file) is about $5, so maybe $100 per day, but if it saves you one hour it pays for itself.

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Stephen Tucker
Calvary Health Care

My location

Hi
I used Smith sterilising about 10 years ago and found them to be quite reliable and having a drop off service was useful.
However I have been doing my own for the last 10 years which comes with its own headaches but much more cost effective. I also used a country hospital which only charged about $1.20 per pack (about three years ago), try the Womens and Childrens Hospital and talk directly to the sterilising departments.
If you wash and pack the instruments I imagine many private pods would be happy to have you help offset some of their costs.
You could also try DENMED to see if you can pick up a second hand autoclave.
Goodluck

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