The holidays are meant to be a joyful time of year, making memories with family and friends. For some, ‘tis the season to schedule elective surgeries that have been put off all year long.  This season can be challenging for hospitals because many of their tenured staff choose to take time off too. While family fun is ramping up, hospital staff is ramping down and viruses like the Flu, RSV, or SARS CoV-2 are on the upswing. Pathogens travel through the air like microscopic snowflakes, settling on surfaces – waiting to be touched. It’s the time of year known as “Respiratory Virus Season ..read more

On September 1, 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a new medical device product classification, thereby establishing FDA regulation of UV robots intended to reduce the number of pathogens on non-critical medical devices. Through the De Novo classification process, the FDA established a new Class II device classification, “whole room microbial reduction devices” for products that claim to reduce microbial load in the presence of non-critical medical device surfaces, such as hospital beds, wheelchairs, IV poles, and many other medical devices common in a healthcare envi ..read more

Xenex founders Mark(Tuck) Stibich and Julie Stachowiak met at Johns Hopkins University during their doctoral studies. Both epidemiologists, they had a shared passion for research and wanting to make the world a better place. As their careers evolved, they began to study novel approaches to saving lives and reducing suffering by destroying the deadly microorganisms that cause infections. They wanted to provide healthcare facilities with a more effective tool to kill pathogens, and they wanted to ensure that scientific evidence drove all of the company’s claims. In 2008, Tuck and Julie co-fou ..read more

Let’s all breathe a sigh of relief that operating rooms are nothing like they were back in the 1900s. At the same time, we have to appreciate and respect all of the medical professionals that paved the way for the advancements in technology, increased medical knowledge, and an improved understanding of how to help prevent pathogen transmission in the operating room.   Back then, it was the age of the surgeon showman. Surgeries were a spectator sport for medical professors and students, hence the name surgical theatre. It was a chance to witness medical miracles. Some surgical proc ..read more

Healthcare facilities have been dealt several blows – kicking off with the pandemic – leading to economic uncertainty and staffing shortages. Many haven’t seen a sustained rebound in elective surgeries, however, it sounds like the light at the end of the tunnel may finally be in sight. While we wait with bated breath, it’s a good time to start prepping and planning. Priorities that were put on hold to accommodate the mounting pressures that came with the pandemic need to take a higher priority. For example, the CMS program aimed at measuring pathogen transmission is scheduled to be reinstat ..read more

We’ve all heard surfaces are a vehicle for the transmission of germs that can make us sick, but just how dirty are those surfaces, and which one ranks amongst the germiest?  Our cell phones pretty much top the chart… they can carry 10 times as many germs as a public bathroom’s toilet. If that’s not gross enough, think about the fact that the average person touches their face 23 times an hour. And we’re doing that after we touch our phones and many other germ-ridden surfaces.  In healthcare, many facilities have added ultraviolet light (UV) technology as a final step in their disinfec ..read more

On any given day, we can turn on the TV, radio, or peruse social media outlets and hear about new research that has concluded something powerful, helpful, or frightening. But what do you really know about that study? Where was it conducted? Did something influence the results? Do you know where it was published so that you can read it yourself? Weeding through the “evidence” that exists about disinfection science is equally challenging. If we don’t know the right questions to ask about a “study” on new technology, we can’t be certain the claims are legitimate or that the study validates the us ..read more

In a recent web event with Healthcare Purchasing News, Steve Egbert, an Environmental Services (EVS) leader with 25 years of experience, shared some of the strategies he’s learned that have helped him build great teams and enabled him to develop and maintain successful EVS programs. Today’s EVS workers have to wear many hats. In addition to their traditional cleaning roles, their patient interactions help communicate the culture of their healthcare facility, and many are involved in epidemiology, chemistry, and finance discussions.  Environmental Services teams also have one of the most i ..read more

Our clinical team is regularly asked about UV disinfection and the claims people evaluating them have read or heard about different UV products. It can be confusing and you may find yourself wondering what you should believe. There is a lot of misleading information out there. Today, we’re going to share 6 of the most common myths we hear from people evaluating UV technology for healthcare facilities and offer some guidance for filtering out fact from fiction. 1. All UV products work the same. There is a thread of truth in this statement. If you’re talking about UV products with long, glowing ..read more

Dr. Chetan Jinadatha, chief of infectious diseases at the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System-Temple, has dedicated his career to research and “taking care of the people who take care of us.” He’s published 54 peer-reviewed articles on topics related to disinfection and will present a poster at the upcoming APIC conference on strategies for contaminated Portable Medical Equipment (PME).  We had the opportunity to conduct a brief interview with Dr. Jinadatha that left us feeling energized, optimistic, and positive about the work being done to create a better environment for healthcar ..read more