Healthcare

Healthcare consumers are savvier today than ever before, with easy access to data about healthcare providers at their fingertips via smartphone or tablet. Healthcare consumers also have far more to choose from as compared to previous generations, and are far more likely to exercise their freedom of choice.

Studies have found the rate of hospital-acquired infections, such as MRSA, VRE and clostridium difficile, is a statistic that many healthcare consumers consider strongly before choosing a healthcare provider. A facility with a low rate of hospital-acquired infections is often chosen over a facility with a higher rate.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that at least 2 million people become infected with hospital acquired infections (HAI’s), while hospitalized every year. Even more alarming is the estimated 99,000 that die each year from these infections. This loss of life from preventable infections is both tragic, and astronomically expensive, adding up to 8 additional days in the ICU and 9 additional hospital days, estimated at an average cost of $36,000 per infection. Some institutions believe this cost to be even higher. In fact, the aggregate burden of U.S. hospital-acquired infections is estimated to exceed $28-33 billion annually.

So why have HAI’s risen 36% in the last 20 years?

This can be attributed to an increase in invasive procedures and microorganisms growing resistance to antibiotics. Many healthcare institutions use powerful disinfectants to kill these dangerous organisms but often times improperly by allowing them to dry before the required contact time, which could be as high as 10 minutes depending on the disinfectant. If a disinfectant does not remain wet on the surface for the required contact time, it will not reach its stated Log reduction of bio burden on the surface. Imagine trying to keep an entire bed frame both top and bottom wet with a disinfectant for several minuets, it’s virtually impossible. Now imagine trying to terminally clean and disinfect an entire hospital room or surgical suite like this!

In light of this, healthcare institutions such as hospitals and skilled nursing facilities are seeking a more proactive approach to combating hospital-acquired infections. One particularly effective approach is an environmental intervention, the objective of which is to create a microbe-hostile environment. MicrobeCare creates this environment by covalently bonding to surfaces to provide a long lasting base layer of protection shown to eliminate >99.99% of microorganisms on surfaces quickly. Continually combating and neutralizing microbial threats before they have an opportunity to spread, MicrobeCare persists in the absence of good disinfecting practice.

Our trained technicians and engineers will work with your facility to evaluate & test current bio burden levels on surfaces and other key items throughout your facility and work with you to develop a customized treatment plan to apply MicrobeCare to all of your surfaces in an efficient manner. Once a surface has been treated, it will actively combat pathogens for long lasting protection. Our technicians will work to educate staff and key personnel how to continuously track a surfaces bio burden levels using ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) to monitor potential upward trends, which could warrant additional surface treatment. Continuously monitoring surfaces is key to effectively reducing threats due to surface contamination.

MicrobeCare can be applied to many types of medical devices, either as a direct integration into the manufacturing process, or as a finishing application and has been successfully integrated into FDA Class 1, 2 and 3 devices such as stethoscopes, DVT and Infusion pumps, intravenous catheters, hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis catheters, wound drains and wound vacuums.

MicrobeCare has been tested for biocompatibility such as skin sensitivity, cytotoxicity and blood compatibility and because it is non-dispersive or non-leaching MicrobeCare will not degrade from the device leaving it unprotected creating a zone of adaptation for microorganisms.

Our Engineers have extensive backgrounds in medical device manufacturing and have consulted with clients to integrate MicrobeCare into extrusion processes, injection molding, medical adhesives and polymer compounding.

If you have additional questions we can help answer about your specific needs please contact us today.