Hospitals Soak Up Technology For Sponge Counts

Health Data Management, October, 2006

Content provided
in partnership with

Most hospitals require clinicians to conduct manual sponge counts both before and after each surgical procedure to ensure sponges that were used are removed before the patient is sewn up. But these procedures aren't always followed, and as a result it's all too common for sponges to be left inside patients, says Alex Macario, M.D., who last year led a study at Stanford University Medical Center to determine if RFID technology could be used to help reduce such errors.

Most Popular Articles in Health: Fuel your workout: exercisers who eat before they work out have more energy ...; Soothe a dry, itchy scalp: 5 easy expert solutions; Cocktails and calories: Beer, wine and liquor calories can really add up. ...; The sour truth about apple cider vinegar - evaluation of therapeutic use; The, six best supplements you've never heard of: these secret weapons can ...; More »

The study, which was funded by grants from the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the National Institutes of Health, involved using surgical sponges that had been embedded with passive RFID tags. The technology, from ClearCount Medical Solutions, Pittsburgh, has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is not yet commercially available. During the study, 28 of the vendor's RFID sponges were intentionally left in eight patients ...

Read the full article with a Free Trial at MyWire.

Featured Download

Speak Like a CEO

Hospitals Soak Up Technology For Sponge Counts

Health Data Management, October, 2006

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Health

Most Popular Articles in Health

Most Popular Publications in Health