Masterclass: EndoQuest - Endoscopy in the GI Unit (Live/Virtual) | September 2025-Fundamentals of the Endoscopy Department

Video Transcription

Video Summary

Jordan S. Hughes, Associate Director of Endoscopy at MD Anderson, presents fundamentals for building and running a safe, efficient endoscopy unit. He reviews major procedure categories—diagnostic, therapeutic, screening, surveillance, and palliative—and emphasizes that understanding indications helps teams educate patients, anticipate complications (e.g., bleeding/perforation with EMR/ESD), and prepare appropriate equipment.<br /><br />From a management perspective, he outlines key unit components: staffing models that flex with volume to reduce overtime and burnout; regulatory and facility requirements (emergency power, oxygen/suction, appropriate ventilation/negative pressure, and unidirectional reprocessing flow); and strong patient-safety practices such as multidisciplinary timeouts, monitoring policies, sedation credentialing, and ready emergency equipment.<br /><br />He highlights AAMI ST91 as the standard for flexible endoscope reprocessing (prompt pre-cleaning, leak testing, manual cleaning, verification/ATP, HLD in AER, drying, and proper storage). Education is framed as essential: MD Anderson implemented a 12-week multimodal program with self-study, testing, and hands-on boot camps to standardize competencies.<br /><br />Workflow topics include scheduling based on urgency and case mix, robust pre-admission testing, clearer bowel-prep instructions, and structured PACU recovery aligned with ASPAN. Operational metrics include first-case starts, turnaround time, template utilization, bowel prep scores, withdrawal times, and patient satisfaction. Q&A addresses common pain points (staffing/FTEs, turnover, lack of standard curricula), how prep instructions are delivered (calls plus Epic/MyChart), use of hybrid triage nurses, processes for introducing new devices via value analysis, and challenges when educators lack endoscopy experience.

Asset Subtitle

Jordan Hughes

Keywords

endoscopy unit management

patient safety and sedation credentialing

flexible endoscope reprocessing (AAMI ST91)

staffing models and burnout reduction

workflow optimization (scheduling, turnaround time)

endoscopy education and competency training

quality metrics (first-case starts, bowel prep scores, patient satisfaction)