SurgiCount expects to begin shipping its patented gauze, lap sponges and surgical towels to its new customer later this month through Professional Hospital Supply, a provider of custom procedure trays (CPT) to the VA. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Every surgical sponge and towel in the system is pre-labeled by the manufacturer with an individual and unique bar coded label, and a scanning counter is used to read and record the labels.
No change is required in a hospital’s established counting procedures: sponges are counted and recorded by the system at the beginning of the procedure and again as they are removed from the patient.
Rick Bertran, president of SurgiCount Medical, said, our Safety-Sponge System is currently being evaluated by major hospitals, which we believe will lead to additional supply agreements.
SurgiCount Medical claims that each year surgical sponges are left in 3,000 to 5,000 surgical procedures in the US.
