“Face lifts” have become common cosmetic surgery procedures for patients who want to minimize the appearance of aging. Most cosmetic surgery procedures are safe and effective, however, there have been reports of paralysis of facial muscles and other problems due to complications from injectables, such as Botox. What Is Botox Migration? A rare but potentially…
The National Center for Health Statistics research found that 35.7% of American adults are obese. This means that approximately 1 out of every 3 Americans is classified as obese. Bariatric patients have a higher rate of numerous health risks such as gastrointestinal illnesses, cardiovascular disease and respiratory diseases just to name a few. All of…
Hoover Alabama’s Fire Department has implemented vein illumination as a standard of care because they want to be on the cutting edge of EMS. “The department bought a dozen vein finders and will put one on each of the front-line engine companies and on each of the Fire Department’s three rescue units, Hambright said.” Read…
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…
