The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has ongoing initiatives to control costs and improve patient care. The term “Never Event” was first introduced in 2001 by the National Quality Forum (NQF), in reference to particularly shocking medical errors (such as wrong-site surgery) that should never occur. Over time, the list has been expanded to…
Clinicians have told us that there are many procedures where avoiding a vein is an important goal. By avoiding veins, bleeding and bruising can be prevented during procedures. We received an email from a surgeon in France who has posted a video of his use of AccuVein to avoid veins in abdominal surgery. Please note…
Gloves are not required when assessing and looking for veins. Unless the patient’s skin is not intact, you can use your bare fingers to palpate and look for a suitable vein while assessing the vasculature. Gloves are however required by OSHA to be worn for the actual venipuncture procedure. Even though they are required, nurses…
We know that patient satisfaction is impacted by the overall patient experience including venipuncture. The number of sticks or amount of pain experienced during this procedure has an effect on patient’s scores.
The January issue of Outpatient Surgery Magazine includes the article “8 Tips for Efficient IV Catheterization”. Tip #4 recommends investing in vein finding technologies. In the article Sarah Johnson, perianesthesia nurse manager at the Iowa City Ambulatory Surgical Center, an AccuVein customer, is quoted saying what a “huge help” the device has been. You’ll also…
An article appeared in The European Journal for Plastic Surgery that describes a novel application of the AccuVein vein illumination device. The article states, “This device is ideally suited to providing a map of the superficial veins to aid vein graft harvest and other plastic surgery procedures. Vein grafts are frequently used in microsurgical anastomoses to bridge vascular…
The Affordable Care Act includes a number of policies to help physicians, hospitals, and other caregivers improve the safety and quality of patient care and make health care more affordable. In October 2012 Medicare began rewarding hospitals that provide high quality care for their patients through the new Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program. This program marks…
We’ve created two 8 1/2 x 11 posters to hang in the hospital to remind clinicians to look for their AccuVein device and to let them know where exactly to find it. The first poster, “Don’t Forget to Reach for AccuVein Vein Illumination” and was designed to be hung in a nurses break room or…
When looking at a map of a patient’s vasculature with the AccuVein AV400 vein finder you’ll be able to locate valves and bifurcations. The knowledge of valve and bifurcation location allows you avoid these areas, facilitating smoother venous access. It is important to understand why this is such a great value add for the nurses…
The June issue of Outpatient Surgery Magazine includes the article “Perfect Your IV Starts”. Under “#3 Inspect for Your Best Target”, the article suggests, “Vein-viewing technology can make your job easier. Using infrared light, these portable devices project a real-time digital image of the vein pattern right on the patient’s skin.” You can access this…