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The Cost of Needlestick Law Compliance: Healthcare facilities prepare to manage price and other training issues Rush is on for cost–effective, reliable alternatives; "passive" devices maximize compliance President Clinton's signature of the "Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act" on November 6, 2000, heralded a new era of protection for the nation's 8 million healthcare workers. This Act requires that healthcare facilities implement the use of "safer medical devices" to minimize accidental needlesticks. Yet these safety devices can sometimes incur increased costs related to procurement, training and documentation. How much more depends in part on the ingenuity of product designers and manufacturers, and how easy it is for healthcare facilities to evaluate and implement these new safety devices. "With this new act, healthcare organizations will find a delicate balance between caring for patients and protecting their employees while managing the cost of compliance," said Caroll Neubauer, CEO of B. Braun Medical Inc., a pioneer in the development of medical products that reduce accidental needlestick injuries. "Our engineers are focused on developing new technologies that keep product costs reasonable while limiting the costs associated with new product training." According to the Act, between 600,000 and 800,000 accidental needlestick injuries are suffered by healthcare workers each year in the United States. The injuries can involve needles or other sharps contaminated with bloodborne pathogens such as HIV or Hepatitis C, which can be passed to the healthcare worker. "Many people think that this is a product of their carelessness, but in fact, this is a product design issue. Safer products can protect healthcare workers," said Janine Jagger, MPH Ph.D. and founder of EPINet, a University of Virginia-based operation that monitors and advocates needlestick prevention efforts. "There’s a lot of hope right now, because we have great new technology, and we have legislation that’s going to get this technology into the hands of the healthcare workers. So, the combination of these two factors will make a big difference to healthcare workers, and hopefully, very quickly." New, cost-effective passive safety IV catheter minimizes the greatest exposure risk An example of a cost-effective solution as required by the Act is the Introcan Safety® IV Catheter from B. Braun Medical Inc. The product activates a safety mechanism to shield the needle tip automatically as the needle is withdrawn from the catheter hub. Because it requires no change in technique, the Introcan Safety® IV Catheter is classified as a "passive" product. Its design minimizes the risk of inadvertent activation because the safety mechanism cannot be bypassed. Other safety IV products require healthcare workers to change their technique or remember to retract or sheath contaminated needles during IV catheter insertion, which EPINet classifies as a high-risk procedure due to the catheters' large bore, blood-filled needles. Although safety IV catheters cost roughly $1 more than conventional, non-safety IV catheters, the cost differential is quickly minimized by the increased needlestick prevention, said Mike Connelly, Vascular Access Product Director at B. Braun. "As a leading manufacturer and pioneer in safety devices, we have a major role in keeping compliance affordable. The Introcan Safety® IV Catheter's passive design is simple to use, and simple to teach others to use, which makes the conversion to our safety IV catheter extremely cost-effective," added Connelly. Since its market introduction last year, more than 300 healthcare facilities have converted and used several million Introcan Safety® IV catheters. B. Braun engineers were recently awarded a patent for the unique passive design of the Introcan® Safety™ IV Catheter. Research: "Passive" devices can offset training costs Connelly said B. Braun has presented research to the National Association of Vascular Access Networks (NAVAN) demonstrating that the Introcan® Safety™ IV Catheter's passive design requires minimal training, which can reduce costs and expedite compliance. "Other, more complex safety IV catheter designs usually require user activation and therefore more inservicing and training," said Connelly. "Safety shouldn't require a second thought. The key to designing safety devices is engineering a product that ideally requires no change in technique — something that nurses and doctors do not have to think twice about." Another example of B. Braun's passive needlestick prevention devices is the ULTRASITE® valve, a needle-free capless valve for IV administration. The new Act mandates the use of IV systems that do not require the use of needles. The ULTRASITE valve's passive design prevents both intentional or unintentional needle access. "The safety design of ULTRASITE, like the Introcan® Safety™ IV Catheter, cannot be bypassed, thus improving compliance with this new Act," said Greg Jones, IV Systems Director of Marketing. In addition to the ULTRASITE valve providing greater safety to the healthcare worker, its positive displacement design prevents blood from being drawn back into the IV system. Blood drawbacks may be one of the factors that contribute to blood clots within the catheter lumen.1 B. Braun pioneered the development of safety products in 1989 with the SAFSITE® two–way valve for IV systems, the first passive device to combat needlestick injuries—introduced long before the issue received national attention. Barbara DeBaun, RN, BSN, CIC, Manager of Infection Control at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco said her hospital implemented B. Braun's needle–free IV system nearly ten years ago. "It's stressful being a healthcare worker today, because we have to assume that every patient we start an IV on may have hepatitis or HIV," she said. "Therefore, it's critical that we provide passive IV devices to our healthcare workers to minimize the risk of them being stuck." Web Resources on Needlestick Injuries
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