[Sponsored] Corporate Profile: Healthmark

For over 50 years, Healthmark Industries has provided innovative intelligent solutions to meet the needs of health care facilities. 2022 has been a year of growth, offering new products and providing new educational services.

Over the past few years, Healthmark has strengthened their commitment to offering new product lines that provide solutions to their customers in order for them to verify the integrity of their equipment. The Insulation Tester, Leak Tester Tester, Shaver Leak Tester and Cable Continuity Tester are easy-to-use devices for verifying the functionality of equipment for safety.

The McGan Insulation Tester detects and locates defects such as pinholes, cracks and bar spots in the jacket or coating of laparoscopic and bi-polar electrosurgical instruments. It is designed specifically for electrically testing electrosurgical instruments. The Insulation Tester is a handheld, portable unit that tests the insulation integrity of electrosurgical equipment for flaws in protective coatings applied over conductive instrument surfaces in order to prevent inadvertent tissue burns, which may occur during electrosurgical instrument procedures.

 

Leak Tester Tester checks the functionality of automated and handheld endoscope leakage testers. Testing your facilities’ endoscope leak tester prior to use is a necessary step to ensure leak testing demonstrates accurate results, which is why Healthmark created the Leak Tester Tester. Designed to check the accuracy of air pressure provided by automated and handheld endoscope leakage testers, the Leak Tester Tester assists health care workers in reprocessing areas to make sure their endoscope leak tester is working properly by testing the functionality of the pump and the connector for leaks prior to use. The Leak Tester Tester assists in reducing the potential for cross-contamination, damage and costly repairs that result from using an endoscope with leaks.

The Cable Continuity Tester is designed to test the quality of monopolar and bipolar cords, the Cable Continuity Tester is user-friendly, durable and encased in plastic. Simply position the “ON” switch to bipolar or monopolar for the desired test. The Bipolar-OFF-Monopolar switch should illuminate on the desired side. Next, insert the cable and test by lightly pulling at the connections. When complete, position the rocker to the “OFF” position. If the green light remains illuminated while pulling at the connections, then the cable passes testing. If the light flickers or doesn’t illuminate, this indicates the cable failed testing. The Continuity Tester requires one 9V battery that can be replaced by sliding out of the battery door. Each Cable Continuity Tester comes with a 9V battery and a case.

The Shaver Leak Tester is designed for pressure testing arthroscopic shavers to help identify leaks caused by failing seals that degrade over time from repeated use and processing. The Shaver Leak Tester assists health care workers in reprocessing areas to make sure their shaver is working properly by using both a hand pump to apply pressure and a testing stop made from polypropylene to create a temporarily closed system within the fluid pathway of the shaver to pressure test for leaks. Utilizing positive pressure allows the user to confirm if the internal seals are fully intact or if the shaver needs to be sent out for repair. The Shaver Leak Tester helps in reducing the potential for cross-contamination, damage and costly repairs that result from using a shaver with leaks. Simply, select the appropriate brand specific testing stop and insert the stop into the distal end of the shaver’s handpiece until it is fully seated. Then, connect the open end of the silicone tubing attached to the pressure gauge, to the stainless-steel discharge port located at the proximal end of the handpiece. Next, use the bulb of the hand pump to apply pressure and observe that the pressure gauge is displaying and maintaining a positive value. Confirmation of positive static pressure on the pressure gauge indicates no leaks in the fluid pathway and is considered a passing result. The brand-specific Shaver Leak Tester stops are not interchangeable and offered for the following shavers: the Midas Rex shaver, the Stryker Formula shaver, the Stryker Small Joint shaver, the Dyonics shaver, the Conmed Linvatec shaver, and the Arthrex shaver.

Healthmark also announced the addition of the Steriking Pouches for Long Medical Devices to its Steriking Sterilization product line. Manufactured with heat-sealed upper corners that prevent dust from collecting at the opening seal to reduce the risk of contamination when opened, the Steriking Pouches for Long Medical Devices are designed as packing material for sterilization of long devices by steam.

The single-use Steriking Pouches for Long Medical Devices are constructed of heavy weight 100 gsm paper that is heat-sealed together with a multi-ply PET/PP-plastic laminate. Equipped with strong and durable multi-line parallel seams that promote a clean peel, the see-through heat and self-sealable pouches allow double pouching and have thumb notches at each end, which make the filling and opening of a pack easier.

Another new product announced by Healthmark this year is the Robotic Instrument Guards. They are designed to protect robotic instrument tips during sterilization, transport and storage. Featuring an area to apply a steam dot, the Robotic Instrument Guards are offered in the following sizes: 15mm and 30mm. The wide, smooth design of the Robotic Instrument Guards allow individuals to easily slide robotic instruments in and out of instrument pouches. The Robotic Instrument Guards are low linting and have excellent wet and dry mechanical properties to withstand the steam sterilization cycle.

Cleaning verification continues to be a critical issue in health care across the country. News headlines often report about complications from surgeries caused by instruments and equipment that have not been properly cleaned. It has affected the health care field over the years.

Healthmark’s ProFormance monitoring tools help ensure surgical instruments and other equipment are reprocessed correctly. AAMI¹ and AORN² recommend at least weekly testing (preferably daily) of the cleaning process. These products are designed to help facilities comply with standards and ensure they are reprocessing equipment and cleaning surgical instruments effectively.

Researchers have discovered that devices that haven’t been reprocessed correctly can emerge from the cleaning process with bits of bone, blood and tissue from the previous procedure. These contaminants can be reservoirs for some potentially lethal bacteria. Proper cleaning and sterilization are essential for ensuring that medical and surgical devices do not transmit infectious pathogens to patients.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), multiple studies in many countries have documented lack of compliance with established guidelines for cleaning, disinfection and sterilization.³ Failure to comply with scientifically based guidelines has led to numerous outbreaks.

Healthmark continuously strives to create educational opportunities for health care professionals to earn CEUs. Health care professionals can register directly on the website at http://hmark.com/education.php.

In addition to the webinars offered, Healthmark provides a unique free service at Crazy4Clean.com. It’s a website that consists of educational games designed to teach health care professionals about proper reprocessing of instruments/equipment while earning free CEUs. At the end of each game, players receive a free CEU by completing a quiz based on what they’ve learned.

StyleYourPPE.com is a site created by Healthmark where health care professionals can purchase PPE and other attire for individual use. Face masks, Cool Aids and other PPE attire are available as well as socks that are creatively designed to add a little fun to a serious dress code. 

If you are looking for industry news, helpful hints and other information, Healthmark produces a weekly newsletter that is distributed to thousands of readers. Each Healthmarket Digest features a story written by a member of the Healthmark team as well as a weekly coupon. You can sign up for the Healthmarket Digest weekly newsletter at Healthmarketdigest.com  

 

For more information about Healthmark Industries, visit www.hmark.com or call 800-521-6224.

1 AAMI (ST79 Comprehensive Guide to Steam Sterilization and Sterility Assurance in Health Care Facilities)

2 AORN Recommended Practices for Cleaning and Care of Surgical Instruments and Powered Equipment

3 https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/pdf/guidelines/environmental-guidelines-P.pdf