BD, a leading global medical technology company, has taken a large step forward in transforming the patient experience through a vision of a "One-Stick Hospital Stay," building on its history of innovation and leadership in blood collection and vascular access solutions.
 
For more than 70 years, BD has advanced the science of specimen collection helping to transform the blood collection process, making it safer and more comfortable¹ for patients and clinicians, through the BD Vacutainer family of products. At the same time, the company's comprehensive vascular access management solutions help clinicians choose the right device for the right patient to achieve "first-stick success" for starting IV lines while also reducing IV complications and extending catheter dwell times through proper IV care and maintenance, which may result in improved clinical outcomes and better patient experiences through fewer needlesticks.
 
With the recent acquisition of San Francisco-based Velano Vascular and its innovative, needle-free technology that enables high-quality blood draws from existing peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) lines, BD can now enable health care providers to help eliminate multiple needlesticks for blood sample collection, reducing the pain and discomfort from the process while delivering quality outcomes and increased patient satisfaction. The addition of Velano Vascular's FDA-cleared PIVO device allows BD to help health care providers move closer to the aspirational vision of the "One-Stick Hospital Stay," where certain low-acuity patients will only have one "stick" for their entire hospital stay.
 
"As a global leader in vascular access solutions and blood collection, BD has been on the forefront of innovations that improve the patient experience and reduce additional needlesticks," said Rick Byrd, president of Medication Delivery Solutions for BD. "Now, with the addition of Velano and its groundbreaking technologies, we can envision a world where a 'One-Stick Hospital Stay' could be a reality for many by making the numerous inpatient blood draws better for everyone."
 
Blood draws by venipuncture and inserting PIVCs are two of the most commonly performed procedures in hospitals.^2,3 Needlesticks affect nearly every hospitalized patient daily and are typically associated with some level of pain and anxiety for patients, especially with successive sticks.^3,4 
 
"By potentially removing multiple, individual needlesticks from blood draws, we can change the decades-old practice and help transform it into a better experience for patients and providers," said Anna Kiger, DNP, DSc., R.N., FAONL, chief nursing officer for Sutter Health, a Northern California-based integrated, not-for-profit health system that first implemented the needle-free technology in 2016. "What can be an unpleasant or anxiety-inducing procedure, with multiple pokes and prods throughout the day and night, is now a more compassionate one for those in our care."
 
Approximately 90 percent of hospitalized patients require IV therapy and 95 percent of these devices are PIVCs.^2,5 With best practice in vascular access, the PIVC blood draw experience can be reinvented through PIVO to help health care providers deliver higher quality care and improve patient satisfaction and outcomes.
 
"Since inception, we have long championed a more compassionate vision for quality vascular care for every patient in every hospital anywhere in the world," said Eric M. Stone, co-founder of Velano Vascular. "By joining forces with BD, we can collectively accelerate the impact of our work to more rapidly make this shared vision of a 'One-Stick Hospital Stay' a reality."
 
Velano Vascular was named one of the Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in the World and the fastest growing medical device company in 2020 according to Deloitte.⁶ Earlier this year, Real Leaders Magazine named Velano Vascular to its list of 100 leading Impact Companies, celebrating those organizations doing well by doing good,⁷ which complements BD's decades of leadership in shared value creation and being named to Fortune's Change the World list four times as one of the companies who tackle society's unmet needs.
 
The Velano acquisition is consistent with BD's growth strategy to enter new categories that address unmet needs and deliver higher impact to patients and health systems. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
 
References:
^1. Mouser A, Uettwiller-Geiger D, Plokhoy E, Berube J, Ahuja AJ, Stankovic AK. Evaluation of pain and specimen quality by use of a novel 25-gauge blood collection set with ultra-thin wall cannula and 5-bevel tip design. J Appl Lab Med. 2017;2(2):201-210.
^2. Helm RE, Klausner JD, Klemperer JD, Flint LM, Huang E. Accepted but unacceptable: peripheral IV catheter failure. J Infus Nurs 2015; 38: 189–203.
^3. Cadacio C, Nachamkin I. A novel needle-free blood draw device for sample collection from short peripheral catheters. JIN. 2017;40(3):156-162
^4. Mulloy DF, Lee SM, Gregas M, Hoffman KE, Ashley SW. Effect of peripheral IV based blood collection on catheter dwell time, blood collection, and patient response. Applied Nursing Research. 2017;40:76-79. doi:10.1016/j.apnr.2017.12.006.
^5. iData Research Inc. US Market Report Suite for Vascular Access Devices and Accessories. 2016.
^6. Deloitte Unveils 2020 North America Technology Fast 500 Rankings. November 2020. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/deloitte-unveils-2020-north-america-technology-fast-500-rankings-301175378.html. Accessed June 3, 2021.
^7. Velano Vascular Named Top Impact Company for 2021 by Real Leaders. January 2021. https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2021/01/13/2157985/0/en/Velano-Vascular-Named-Top-Impact-Company-for-2021-by-Real-Leaders.html. Accessed June 3, 2021.