Each year hospital infections add an estimated $30.5 billion to the nation’s hospital costs, according to the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths. More than 100,000 deaths occur each year from preventable hospital infections, according to The Institute of Medicine. That number is more than the yearly deaths from AIDS, breast cancer and auto accidents combined.

David Palmer, president and CEO of Pittsburgh-based ClearCount Medical Solutions Inc., a medical device company focused on patient safety solutions, has developed technology called the SmartSponge System to track surgical sponges, making hospital surgeries more efficient and reducing extra costs.

Smart Business spoke to Palmer about how this technology can benefit hospitals nationwide.

Where did this idea come from?

The original idea wasn’t from us, it was actually an operating room nurse who back in the mid-’90s had seen this reconciliation angst on a recurring basis and thought there had to be a better way to do this. Along with her husband, they came up with the idea that radio frequency identification technologies would be a great tool to help solve the problem. In 2004, ClearCount came about.

What are the inefficiencies your product is addressing?

There is a study published that one in 1,500 intra-abdominal surgeries results in a retained object. That gives you the magnitude of the problem that we’re addressing. Currently today, there is a manual reconciliation process that is performed in every surgical procedure. The purpose of that reconciliation is to make sure that they account for the number of things at the beginning of the surgical case, throughout the case, but most importantly, at the end of the case, to prevent that one in 1,500 intra-abdominal surgery event from occurring.

What happens is, whenever there is a miscount that occurs, there is quite a bit of time spent in the operating room trying to correct that situation. They’re trying to find that missing sponge by maybe digging through the garbage or recounting to make sure they didn’t make an error. There are a lot of things that are happening that impact the efficiencies when the count is off. That’s what we really prevent. We automate what is now an error-prone manual process in the operating room. We address both the patient-safety side of it, and through our automation and accuracy, we add efficiency to the operating room.

How does it work?

There is a radio frequency identification chip which is comparable to a tic-tac and that is sewn into the surgical sponges when they are manufactured. Each sponge has a tag which contains a unique identifier on it that allows that sponge to be counted. Before a case begins, the sponges are quickly scanned into the counting process and all those tags are read and they establish an in-count and then during and after the case, the sponges are discarded and that’s where they are counted out and there’s a display screen that shows the ins and outs and how many are missing. It tells you not only how many sponges, but the type of sponge. Then there is a wand attached to the device which allows the nurse or the physician to scan the patient or use it in the room to find a sponge as well.

Are hospitals looking to use this technology?

It’s a very immature market right now. I think the level of awareness clearly increased over the past 12 to 18 months. That’s the awareness that technologies are available to help the problem. The problem has been well known and documented. The solutions have been less well known, and that’s the reason for the relatively underpenetrated market. What we’re noticing now is that many hospitals are actually proactively looking for technologies to help with this problem.

What are the advantages for hospitals to adopt this technology?

First off, we offer to our customers an additional financial backing and we have a special policy that stands behind our products in the event that a hospital would incur an incident while using our technology.

There is also the advantage of the efficiency in the operating room. Because our product is so easy to use and not only includes the ability for the nurses to get an accurate count, but in the event that there is a missing sponge, we have the ability to find it as well. We are the only technology that can both count sponges and detect them.

HOW TO REACH: ClearCount Medical Solutions Inc., (412) 931-7233 or www.clearcount.com

ClearCount Medical Solutions Quick Facts:

City: Pittsburgh.

Founded: 2004.

Founders: David Palmer and Steven Fleck.

Goal: Uses RFID technology to prevent medical errors and make hospitals more efficient.

Nurses at the 59th Congress of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses had an opportunity to visit hundreds of vendors at the shows Exhibit Hall. Products and services such as gowns, gloves, information systems and scalpels were highlighted at AORN. Take a sneak peek at some of the products we saw. For complete ADVANCE coverage of the AORN Congress, click here.

Compact design builds on ClearCount’s clinically preferred RFID-based technology, improving patient safety and OR productivity

Pittsburgh, PA. March 21, 2011 - ClearCount Medical Solutions, a leader in patient safety solutions, announced today that it has updated its existing platform and launched the SmartSponge^® Flex, a new addition to the SmartSponge family of products. The SmartSponge Flex provides ClearCount’s clinically preferred and patented RFID technology in a new cost-effective and compact package.

The SmartSponge Flex provides a dedicated basin for sponge accounting during surgery. Positioned next to the surgical field, it automatically reconciles the sponge count throughout the procedure – no tedious bar code reading or sponge handling during the out count is required. Its superior design both improves OR productivity and ease-of-use for staff. Latest product enhancements include:

• Ergonomic design keeps everything within reach for improved staff satisfaction
• Easy access to data ports on the back of the unit for convenient data download
• Complete electronic record of all cases, for traceability and management reporting
• High tech construction features seamless design and antimicrobial protection for the life of the device

“The SmartSponge Flex builds upon our proven ClearCount technology with an improved design that fits even more seamlessly into existing OR protocols,” said David Palmer, chief executive officer of ClearCount. “The release of the SmartSponge Flex furthers our commitment to enhancing both safety and productivity in the OR through the thoughtful application of technology.”

ClearCount’s Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) based platform is the only technology available that provides true closed-loop reconciliation of the sponge count. All equipment and RFID tags are validated before use in each case. During surgery, sponges are individually tracked from the initial check-in through the out count. When called upon, the detection wand assists to quickly locate missing sponges. To date, this counting and detection approach has made retained sponges a true “Never Event” in all operating rooms where ClearCount’s technology has been implemented. Further distinguishing ClearCount is our industry-first $2M Never Event Warranty. For many, this additional assurance makes the choice of using ClearCount technology even more clear.

Using manual procedures, retained surgical items are estimated to occur in one of every 1,500 open abdominal / chest procedures, leading to additional surgeries, unnecessary costs, serious infections and even death. For the second year in a row, retained surgical items were the leading Sentinel Event reported to the Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals in the United States. The number of reported retained surgical items grew over 40% from 2010 to 2011, illustrating that this issue remains a pervasive challenge for hospitals across the country. ClearCount customers’ track record of not a single retained sponge incident report since product introduction provides compelling evidence in favor of using RFID technology to help reduce this risk.

ClearCount will be exhibiting the SmartSponge Flex at the 59^th AORN Congress 2012, in New Orleans, LA, March 24-29, 2012 in booth #4059. To schedule a demo, please email sales@clearcount.com. To see a video of how the SmartSponge Flex enhances patient safety and productivity in the OR, please visit http://clearcount.com/products/smartsponge-flex.

About ClearCount Medical Solutions

ClearCount Medical Solutions is a leader in bringing innovative patient safety technology into operating rooms around the world. ClearCount’s award-winning RFID-based SmartSponge platform provides a complete solution, preventing dangerous retained sponges during surgery by individually identifying each sponge for superior count reconciliation and detection. The SmartSponge technology enhances existing counting protocols, confirming results and detecting/accounting for missing sponges to enhance productivity and improve patient safety. To learn more, visit www.clearcount.com.

CC_FlexPR_032112

Strong staff and surgeon buy-in results in facility-wide implementation, ensuring every OR case is protected against retained surgical sponges

Pittsburgh, PA. March 19, 2012 - ClearCount Medical Solutions, a leader in patient safety solutions, announced today that the University of California, Irvine Medical Center in Orange , CA, has implemented ClearCount’s SmartSponge System, the most complete technology for the prevention of retained sponge incidents.  UC Irvine has also implemented ClearCount’s SmartWand-DTX to provide additional protection against retained sponges in its ambulatory and labor and delivery facilities.

Staff members, including both surgeons and OR staff, chose the SmartSponge platform after extensive research and in-facility testing. The team concluded that ClearCount’s combination of closed-loop reconciliation of sponge count and detection wand functionality provided the most complete solution to meet their safety and productivity needs. To date, this dual approach has made retained sponges a true “Never Event” in all facilities where SmartSponge technology has been implemented.

“Ensuring patient safety is our top priority. We believe that both count reconciliation and detection technology are critical parts of preventing retained surgical sponges,” said William Barron, MD, chief medical officer, UC Irvine Medical Center. “Second, it was important that we find a technology that required very minimal changes to the existing protocols and workflow in our ORs.”

The UC Irvine Medical Center is the only university hospital in Orange County, CA, performing approximately 1,000 procedures across its 22 OR suites each month.  Currently, ClearCount’s RFID-based technology has been implemented in all operating rooms and the labor and delivery facilities.

“The UC Irvine Medical Center is a great example of a facility that is proactively thinking about how to implement the best technologies to improve patient safety,” said David Palmer, chief executive officer of ClearCount. “We are pleased to see UC Irvine demonstrate how RFID-based technology cannot only improve patient safety, but also productivity, within the OR.”

The University of California also encourages system-wide adoption of sponge counting technologies to avoid retained surgical incidents.

About ClearCount Medical Solutions

ClearCount Medical Solutions is a leader in bringing innovative patient safety technology into operating rooms around the world. ClearCount’s award-winning RFID-based SmartSponge platform provides a complete solution, preventing dangerous retained sponges during surgery by individually identifying each sponge for superior count reconciliation and detection.  The SmartSponge technology enhances existing counting protocols, confirming results and detecting/accounting for missing sponges to enhance productivity and improve patient safety.  To learn more, visit www.clearcount.com.

About UC Irvine Medical Center

Orange County’s only university hospital, UC Irvine Medical Center offers acute- and general-care services at its new, 482,000-square-foot UC Irvine Douglas Hospital and is home to the county’s only Level I trauma center, American College of Surgeons-verified regional burn center and National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. U.S. News & World Report has included UC Irvine for 11 consecutive years on its list of America’s Best Hospitals, giving special recognition to its urology, gynecology, kidney disorders and cancer programs.

About the University of California, Irvine

Founded in 1965, UCI is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UCI is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with nearly 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,000 staff. Orange County’s largest employer, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $4.2 billion. For more UCI news, visit www.today.uci.edu.

ClearCount_UCIPR_031912

PITTSBURGH, Nov 01, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — ClearCount Medical Solutions, a leader in patient safety solutions, announced today that it has received approval to affix the CE mark to its SmartSponge and SmartWand-DTX products. The SmartSponge product line is the first and only RFID-based surgical safety and efficiency technology bearing a CE mark.

The European Union requires companies to comply with the Medical Devices Directive (MDD) in order to sell medical devices in its 27 member countries. The CE mark is evidence that ClearCount and its product offerings meet the quality and other requirements of these directives. The Company is currently pursuing commercial partners to assist in European distribution.

“We have established a perfect safety record over the past two years in the United States. Our hospital customers have never experienced a retained surgical sponge while using our technology,” said David Palmer, chief executive officer of ClearCount. “CE mark approval of our SmartSponge(R) System and SmartWand-DTX(TM) represents a significant achievement and major milestone for our Company.”

ClearCount’s SmartSponge System is a Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) based platform, providing a comprehensive solution that both verifies sponge counts and detects sponges if they remain in the patient. The system is able to provide a double layer of protection because it uniquely identifies each sponge used during surgery. To date, this counting and detection approach has made retained sponges a true “Never Event” in all operating rooms where ClearCount’s technology has been implemented.

Using manual procedures, retained surgical items are estimated to occur in one of every 1,500 open abdominal / chest procedures, leading to additional surgeries, unnecessary costs, serious infections and even death. In 2010, retained surgical items were the leading Sentinel Event reported to the Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals in the United States. It is also a global problem, though data on these adverse events is not always made public. However, in one example where the data is public, the United Kingdom reported nearly 800 missing or retained surgical swabs or instruments in a single year.(1).

ClearCount will be exhibiting its latest technology at Medica 2011, in Dusseldorf, Germany, November 16-19 in Hall 16,Stand G-05. For more information, please visit www.clearcount.com .

About ClearCount Medical Solutions

ClearCount Medical Solutions is a medical device company focused on patient safety solutions. ClearCount has assembled an extendable RFID-based platform that provides a comprehensive solution to improve efficiency while preventing medical errors. ClearCount Medical Solutions has been recognized with a Popular Science 2009 Best of What’s New Award, and has received additional recognition from TIME and WIRED magazines, the 2009 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award, the International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) and more. ClearCount’s SmartSponge and SmartWand-DTX systems are the first RFID enabled systems for counting and detecting surgical sponges, thereby improving patient and OR safety, enhancing productivity, and reducing cost. To learn more, visit www.clearcount.com .