Christie Medical Earns New Innovative Technology Designation

Christie Medical Holdings Inc.’s near-infrared VeinViewer product has been awarded a new innovative technology designation from Novation, a healthcare supply chain expertise, analytics and contracting company for the more than 100,000 members, affiliates of national health care alliances VHA Inc. and UHC, as well as Children’s Hospital Association, and Provista.
 
The designation is provided only to a small number of products that already are available on contract through Novation. As part of the October 2013 Novation Innovative Technology Expo, the products were thoroughly evaluated and reviewed by hospital member-led councils and found to have an incremental benefit over other products that improve patient care or reduce the risk of harm to patients and caregivers. The products now are designated with a new Innovative Technology icon in the Novation online contract catalog making them easy to identify.
 
“We are pleased to be awarded the annual Innovative Technology Novation designation which further validates VeinViewer’s technology capabilities and substantial clinical benefit as a leading peripheral IV solution used in the care of patients,” said Chris Schnee, general manager and vice president of sales and marketing at Christie. “Our goal is to deliver real-world results like significant cost and risk reduction through better IV first stick success and reduction of medically unneeded PICC (peripherally-inserted central catheter) lines. We also strive to help boost the much needed patient satisfaction scores tied to reimbursement.”
 
“In addition to evaluating new technologies not on contract, we are pleased to recognize products already on contract that meet the strenuous hospital member-based requirements to be considered through the Innovative Technology program,” said Debbie Archer, director, procurement and innovative technology, Novation.
 
VeinViewer technology contributes to improved healthcare delivery process at institutions and has decreased unnecessary PICC line placements resulting in significant cost savings and vein preservation.  It is the only vein illumination device that provides Pre-, During-, and Post-access benefits throughout the entire vascular access procedure, allowing confirmation of the refill of vessels, detection of hematomas and potential avoidance of infiltrations, and has been shown through clinical studies to increase both first stick success and patient satisfaction up to 100 percent, Christie Medical claims.
 
VeinViewer technology was developed with the help of the engineering capabilities and resources of parent company Christie Digital Systems, a global visual technology firm with more than 80 years of experience in the projection systems industry. VeinViewer uses harmless near-infrared light, DLP technologies, and Active Vascular Imaging Navigation to provide Pre, During and Post-access (PDP) benefits. VeinViewer provides TrueView imaging accuracy in projected vein-widths, which is three to 10 times more accurate than the competition, and technologies such as Df2 (Digital full field) to illuminate the only available real-time HD digital image of subcutaneous vasculature and blood patterns directly onto the skin surface.  Although designed for assistance in intravenous starts and blood draws, VeinViewer has proven beneficial in spider and varicose vein treatment.
 
Christie Medical Holdings Inc. is a global company based in Memphis, Tenn., that discovers, develops and commercializes medical technologies. VeinViewer, is a mobile vascular imaging system that allows health care providers to clearly see accessible vasculature as a real time HD image directly on the surface of the skin. Christie Medical Holdings Inc. is owned by Christie Digital Systems Inc., a global visual technologies company and a subsidiary of the Japanese firm Ushio Inc.