Medline announced today the launch of its Vascular Access Health Solution, a new central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) prevention solution driven by human factors-based strategies throughout the entire life of the line, from insertion to removal.
The holistic solution is the latest innovation born out of Medline’s existing vascular access offerings, enhancing practices and pioneering new approaches, as the needs of health systems across the nation continue to evolve.
The need for standardization in the vascular access health space is significant, especially with CLABSI incidents rapidly increasing since the onset of the pandemic. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CLABSIs have increased about 24% since the onset of the pandemic. The CDC also reports the largest increase in CLABSI occurred in Q4 of 2020, at 47% across all location types.
About 70% of CLABSI infections are avoidable through following consistent, evidence-based practices for prevention1. Developed by Medline’s team of vascular access health experts and clinicians, the Vascular Access Health Solution incorporates best practice guidance, education and training, and a system of products, leveraging custom insertion and maintenance bundling to better support clinicians.
“Our goal is to partner with health systems in their journey to reaching zero CLABSIs. Medline’s Vascular Access Health Solution is a strategy that identifies opportunities to streamline workflows and create intuitively designed products and kits to prevent human error, keeping in mind the many variables impacting clinicians’ work environments,” said Christine Dorshorst, vice president, critical care sales at Medline. “With constant changes, labor shortages and the increase of traveling nurses, it’s important to implement solutions that make it easier for clinicians to do their jobs.”
Bundling is one of the strongest defenses to minimize human error and maintain safety consistency, with studies showing that CLABSIs decreased significantly from 6.4 per 1000 catheter-days to 2.5 per 1000 catheter-days after bundling products2. The Vascular Access Health Solution approach customizes bundles with a system of products that intuitively guides clinicians through central line insertions and sterile dressing changes, resulting in maximized procedure safety and clinical workflow efficiency.
“Medline has a unique approach to bundling where we customize the system of products based on health systems’ already established policies and protocols,” said Dorshorst. “This integrative approach is much more effective than changing policies around products.”
In conjunction with the program, Medline formed a specialty vascular access salesforce to zero in on CLABSI reduction. The newly formed specialty team focuses on where touchpoints can be minimized and practices can be standardized by design, to create a more sustainable process. The Vascular Access Health Solution is also powered by personalized clinical workforce training and education, leveraging unit-based safety champion ideologies and engagement techniques – created by clinicians, for clinicians.
“Education and training is something that should be constantly reinforced, as the environments in which our clinicians work are constantly evolving,” said Donna Matocha, DNP, manager of clinical resources at Medline. “Getting back-to-the-basics is essential. When clinicians feel prepared, they feel empowered. This is what ultimately results in better care and patient outcomes, and a happier staff.”
To learn more about Medline’s Vascular Access Health Solution and clinically-driven infection prevention strategies, visit https://www.medline.com/infection-prevention/vascular-access-management.
