2020-2021 HEALTHCARE PRODUCT ALL-STARS 2020-2021 HEALTHCARE PRODUCT ALL-STARS


Stellar product MVPs notable for their essentialness amid pandemic response


by Rick Dana Barlow T


o achieve “All-Star” status in anything business- or sports-related, one likely is judged on his or her performance


during a specifi ed time frame, whether thats a calendar year, fi scal year or playing season. In addition, the All-Star executive or athlete most likely earned “Most Valuable Player (MVP)” status during a series of projects or games where he or she achieved stellar results or satisfi ed a need.


ealthcare products are no different. Last month, Healthcare Purchasing News unveiled its Healthcare Product Hall of Fame, spotlighting the 10 members of the inaugural Class of 2020, highlighting eachs lifetime industry contributions and recognizing the companies that brought them to market. This month, HPN debuts its Healthcare


Product All-Stars, briefly profiling seven relevant products and services that within the last year – and most likely throughout this year – excelled at meeting and exceed- ing clinical and public demand, driving into the end one for the benefi t of patient care. Over time, any of these seven All-Stars could qualify for Hall of Fame recognition once theyve recorded a long and solid career of contributions.


Not surprisingly, the vast majority (six of seven) can trace their All-Star determination and status to the coronavirus pandemic as their utility to fi ght the spread of COVID-19 remains essential. The seventh concentrates on convenience and pain reduction to monitor a chronic disease. ithout further delay, following are HPNs seven ealthcare Product ll-tars with an approving nod to the companies that bring them to market.


Hand-held external temperature scanner


KEY SUPPLIER: Exergen


FIELD PERFORMANCE: Measuring a persons temperature, a necessary step for diagnosing illness and determining treatment, used to


involve an invasive procedure that relied on a contained but hazardous liquid metal that reacted to heat. Then rancesco Pompei, Ph.D., engineer, inventor, physicist and scientist, decided to think outside the body cavity. uch ingenuity propelled the art and science of thermometry into heretofore unseen noninvasive territory. is company, xergen Corp., launched the temporal artery scanner” that uses infrared sensors to detect a persons temperature by swiping the device softly across the skin.


“Exergen TemporalScanner thermometers


have changed the way the world takes tem- perature, said Marybeth Pompei, Ph.D., xergens enior Vice President and Chief Clinical cientist, also a nurse and bioethicist. “Patients no longer need to be subjected to invasive, uncomfortable, and sometimes harmful temperature probes in order to obtain accurate temperatures. ith the xergen TemporalScanner, just a gentle scan of the forehead produces a medically accurate temperature, with accuracy backed by more than 0 peer-reviewed published studies. Pompei points to the accuracy, conve- nience and pain-free nature of noninvasive thermometry. e remember when a nurse approaching


a patient with a thermometer produced anxi- ety, fear and physical resistance on the part of the patient, she indicated. It is very satisfy- ing to hear nurses report that their patients smile when they approach with an xergen Temporalcanner to take their temperature.


10 January 2021 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • hpnonline.com


e also see nurses smile when they tell this story, re ecting that they fi nd the use of the Exergen TemporalScanner a very pleasant experience for them as well. er husband rancesco Pompei, Ph.D., is xergens ounder, CO and President. xergens invention of noninvasive ther- mometry motivated some to try to push the concept even further. If you can take someones temperature outside of the body on the surface of the skin, why cant you take someones temperature outside of the body and away from the surface of the skin These companies created a niche of “non-contact” thermometry as a potential extension of the concept. hile xergens noninvasive temporal


artery thermometer remains popular in clinical settings and, by and large, the gold standard in medical and surgical circles, non-contact thermometers are gaining in popularity and widespread use outside of the healthcare arena in such places as schools, universities, stadia, restaurants and retail stores. upporters attribute demand for these devices to the additional distance between a person taking the temperature of another. owever, a recent observational study reported in a respected infection control publication found that the farther removed the thermometer was from the patients skin the less accurate its temperature reading was above 99. degrees. Pompei indicates the non-contact devices used for mass screening for fever gives a false sense of security. This also leads to accuracy questions about “smart helmet scanners” used in some European airports for non-contact thermometry.


PPE duo (face shields and N95 respirators only)


KEY SUPPLIERS:3M Health Care, CleanSpace Technology, Dräger, Healthmark, Key Surgical, Medline, O&M/Halyard, Precept Medical, Ruhof, Viscot


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