SCIP amends perioperative temperature management guidelines by including Hotdog patient warming technology

The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) recently amended its guidelines for perioperative temperature management by changing the definition of active warming to include HotDog® patient warming. Active warming now includes “forced-air warming, conductive over-the-body active warming, or warm water garments.” HotDog conductive fabric patient warming is the only FDA-cleared conductive blanket commercially available in the U.S. The American Society of Anesthesiologists provided the technical advice supporting the endorsement.

“This is a very exciting development for improving outcomes in surgical patient care,” said Brent Augustine, president of HotDog USA. “The market is eager for an alternative to restrictive hot-air-blowing technologies, and this is an endorsement by the health authorities on the safety and effectiveness of conductive fabric patient warming.”

HotDog warming utilizes patented ThermAssure™ conductive fabric technology, originally designed for radar absorption by the aerospace industry. Air-free HotDog warming is equally effective as forced-air warming, but consumes a fraction of the energy and eliminates disposable waste – providing both environmental and economic savings.

SCIP guidelines, as detailed in the Specifications Manual for National Hospital Quality Measures published jointly by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Joint Commission, are designed to improve surgical outcomes. SCIP-Infection-10 relates to maintaining patients’ core temperatures within the range of normal. Research shows a significant reduction in post-operative infections when patients are kept warm.

In 2008 Medicare began refusing payment for many hospital-acquired infections. “Hospitals are being squeezed,” added Augustine. “To improve outcomes, SCIP requires warming almost all surgical patients, but the cost of disposable warming blankets is simply too much for hospitals to bear. We believe that SCIP added conductive warming to give hospitals a money-saving alternative.” Being reusable, HotDog warming costs approximately 50% less than forced air and requires only one-tenth as much energy.