New Products and Industry News

New Ostomy Alliance Formed

  The United Ostomy Associations of America (a patient advocacy organization); the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society (WOCN); and ConvaTec (Skillman, NJ) formed an alliance of providers, patient organizations, and medical technology manufacturers.   The goal is to ensure people living with a permanent or temporary ostomy have access to appropriate health services to maintain their healthcare and access to the medical prosthetic technology prescribed to meet their specific needs.

  As policy makers at the state and federal level and private insurers look to reduce healthcare costs, there is always concern that medically necessary products such as ostomy supplies could fall victim to budget cuts or a narrowing of benefits. Coverage for ostomy supplies is limited to reduce costs because these supplies often are categorized as nonessential. The Guiding Principles For Sustainable Access to Ostomy Services, Technologies, and Innovation intend to provide a resource to explain to policy makers why ostomy supplies are essential and that coverage should be expanded, not reduced.

  To date, 15 organizations have agreed to endorse the guiding principles defined in the document and encourage WOCN Society members to support the initiative.

  For more information, visit www.origin.library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102018860474-1142/Ostomy+Guiding+Principles.PDF

Strategic Agreement Enhances NPWT Access

  Spiracur (Sunnyvale, CA) entered into a 3-year strategic agreement with HPSI Purchasing Services (Irvine, CA), whereby HPSI will make Spiracur’s SNaP Wound Care System available to its members. HPSI is a fully integrated group purchasing organization with more than 9,300 nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, residential care homes, skilled care facilities, independent living communities, retirement communities, and other senior care providers in its healthcare membership.

  For more information, visit www.spiracur.com.

Foam Wound Dressing Kit Gets FDA Clearance

  Devon Medical Products (King of Prussia, PA) announced the Food & Drug Administration 510(k) provided clearance for its extriCARE 2400 Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) pump to operate with its foam dressing kit. The battery-powered device is lightweight, portable, and works with the company’s patented anatomically fitted NPWT bandage dressings and new foam dressing kit. The NPWT system works to remove wound exudates, infectious material, and tissue debris from the wound bed and bring blood to the wound. The foam dressing kit utilizes a foam pad under an adhesive film that can be applied directly to the wound bed.

  For more information, visit www.devonmedicalproducts.com.

Bed is Designed for High-need, Long-term Care Residents

  Span-America (Greenville, SC) designed the new Encore bed, which includes GlideAlign Retractable Deck Technology, Smart Stop low-position auto-pause, and ReadyWide integrated expansion technology. GlideAlign Retractable Deck Technology retracts the sleep surface as much as 12 inches during head-of-bed (HOB) elevation to markedly reduce shear-induced trauma to the skin as well as the need for resident repositioning by a caregiver. During HOB articulations, the deck glides either toward the head or foot of bed (eliminating the need for the patient to move), protecting fragile skin beneath the resident’s weight from friction with the sheets. As the HOB rises, the gliding deck also keeps the resident in safer vertical alignment with bedside objects such as beverages, correspondence, and cell phones, reducing the possibility of patient imbalance, falling, or side-rail entanglement as well as reducing caregiver risk for injuries.

  Smart Stop low-position auto-pause ensures the resident will not try to egress the bed from a dangerously low level by automatically stopping descent 12 inches from the floor. This reduces the risk of falling and minimizes the threat of injury-producing emergencies for the caregiver, who can override the auto-pause when necessary via the footboard-mounted bed controller.

  ReadyWide integrated expansion widens the deck to 39 or 42 inches, facilitating easier and safer activities of daily living such as bathing.

  For more information, visit www.spanamerica.com.

Acquisition Will Expand Access to Spray Skin Protection Products

  Crawford Healthcare (Doylestown, PA) announced the acquisition of Touchless Care Concepts in the US, which includes its patented range of spray skin protection products.

  The Touchless Care Concepts products use a patented spray mechanism that delivers microfine zinc oxide, miconazole nitrate, and bacitracin to the skin in a controlled manner. This allows for a fast, touchless application to help avoid pain on fragile skin, save time, and limit product waste. The products currently have significant sales in the United States, and Crawford plans to leverage its newly expanded US sales team to provide customer service and accelerate sales growth.

  For more information, visit www.crawfordhealthcare.com/us.

This article was not subject to the Ostomy Wound Management peer-review process.