2018 Private Healthcare Awards

4 GHP / 2018 Private Healthcare Awards , PHA18008 TubeEvac TubeEvac is a unique innovation designed to provide the ultimate support to the patient. Vance Shaffer talks us through this creative solution and the benefits it has. TubeEvac was initially created to support Vance’s late wife, drawing on their personal experiences to create a solution that meets the patient’s needs, as he highlights. “Initially, we invented the TubeEvac device for my late wife who underwent breast cancer surgeries, breast reconstruction, and removal of breast implants. Clearing surgical tubes is a common procedure in wound care, and it often comes as second-nature to clinicians. But it can still be time-consuming and complicated. So you can imagine how daunting and difficult it is for friends or family members who have never done such a thing, and are responsible for a loved one’s after-surgery care. Both Linda and I loved helping people and that was why the TubeEvac device was invented. Unfortunately, Linda’s cancer came back and she died in 2014. “Today, our clients are the hospitals and surgical centers where these surgeries are performed. The TubeEvac device users start as nurses in the recovery room, floor nurses, emergency department staff and nurse navigators who work directly with patients to teach them the proper ways to care for surgical tubes when they go home. At one major hospital TubeEvac devices are kept in the top drawer of each recovery room. If a patient comes out of surgery with tubes then they are given a TubeEvac device for clearing their surgical tubes. They are first shown how to use it in recovery and they are shown again how to use it when back in their room. The nurse is no longer responsible for milking the patient’s surgical tubes. Patients clear their own tubes and are much happier knowing they can clear them when they go home.” In addition to supporting the patients that use the solution, the TubeEvac also creates an efficient healthcare environment, as Vance explains. “Alongside supporting the patient themselves, the TubeEvac device makes the entire hospital floor operate more efficiently thus saving the hospital dollars. In effect, the TubeEvac device more than pays for itself. We do not know of any instance where the TubeEvac device did not clear the surgical drain of clots and fibrinous tissue. However, we know of an instance in North Carolina where the nurses were unable to clear a surgical drain of clots and fibronous tissue. One of them went to get a TubeEvac device they were testing. The nurses were amazed at how the Tube-Evac device pushed the clots and fibrinous tissue into the bulb when rolled down the tube. In another instance a patient in Tennessee had to go back in for another surgery to replace a surgical tube that became clotted and the nurses could not get the clot out. They did not have a Tube-Evac device. A survey done in May 2017 pointed out that 78% of nurses say their patients hate tubes and milking them more than anything else related to the surgery. As such, we are keen to help hospitals and care-givers to assist patients with overcoming their fears and give them some control over their treatment.” “Uniquely, although there are over 70 patented devices for clearing surgical tubes, the TubeEvac device is the only device that actually works and is available for sale. The current method used by healthcare professionals to move the contents in the tubing down to the collection bulb is by squeezing the tube between the thumb and forefinger, pen, scissors, lotion, alcohol swabs, etc. There is no standardized method for clearing surgical tubes. Even in the same hospital different nurses teach patients different techniques. The patient is then very confused. I know