INTEGRIS Southwest Joins INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Adopting the SurgiCount Medical System

Oklahoma's largest not-for-profit health care organization, INTEGRIS Health, continues to prioritize patient safety by adopting the patented Safety-Sponge System for preventing retained sponges after surgery. INTEGRIS Southwest Medical Center has entered into a three-year agreement with SurgiCount Medical, a subsidiary of Patient Safety Technologies, Inc., to implement the Safety-Sponge System. This marks the second hospital in the eleven-hospital INTEGRIS system to adopt the system, which has been cleared by the FDA to market and sell its Safety-Sponge System.

Key Takeaways:

• INTEGRIS Southwest Medical Center has entered into a three-year agreement with SurgiCount Medical to adopt the patented Safety-Sponge System for preventing retained sponges after surgery.
• The Safety-Sponge System uses thermally affixed, data matrix tagged surgical sponges and line-of-sight scanning technology to ensure accurate sponge counting.
• The system offers a solution to gossypiboma, which is estimated to occur in 3,000 to 5,000 surgical procedures annually in the United States, resulting in an estimated $500 million to $750 million in liability settlements and other costs.
• The Safety-Sponge System is the only computer-assisted system for counting sponges cleared by the FDA.
• INTEGRIS Southwest is the second hospital in the INTEGRIS system to adopt the Safety-Sponge System, which is being evaluated by other major hospital networks in California, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Oklahoma.
• Patient Safety Technologies, Inc. owns assets in various businesses, including its wholly-owned subsidiary, SurgiCount Medical, which develops and manufactures patient safety products and services.

Statistics:

• Estimated 3,000 to 5,000 surgical procedures per year in the United States resulting in incidents of gossypiboma
• Estimated liability settlements and other costs related to retained sponges: $500 million to $750 million annually
• Number of hospitals in the INTEGRIS system: eleven
• Number of hospitals adopting the Safety-Sponge System: two
• Number of major hospital networks evaluating the Safety-Sponge System: six

Sources:

• INTEGRIS Health (no date)
• Patient Safety Technologies, Inc. (no date)
• www.integrisOK.com (home page)
• www.surgicountmedical.com (home page)
• "SurgiCount Medical Receives FDA Clearance to Market and Sell Safety-Sponge System" (July 25, 2006)
• Annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)