A Medical Device Daily

Zassi Medical Evolutions (Fernandina Beach, Florida) reported being awarded a group purchasing contract with Premier Purchasing Partners (San Diego). The agreement, effective Feb. 1, offers the Zassi Bowel Management System (BMS) to Premier members.

Premier's member clinical committee recommended the award to offer Premier members access to Zassi's system. “Because [Premier's clinical] committee believed the Zassi BMS is unique to the market and offers an alternative to current clinical practices, the agreement is sole-source,“ Zassa said in a statement.

The BMS is a stool collection/diversion system used to reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired infections that may be acquired through contact with harmful and infectious pathogens contained in stool. This diversion and containment of fecal waste limits exposure to pathogens that are commonly harbored in stool and can cause hospital-acquired infections.

The system enables a caregiver to manage the bowel by both collecting and containing stool and also monitoring output levels and by providing clinicians with a means to deliver and retain irrigants and medications.

Addison May, MD, associate professor of surgery and anesthesiology in the division of trauma and surgical critical care and director, surgical critical care, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tennessee), said clinicians at the center “have found the Zassi Bowel Management System to be a highly effective means of containing the fecal output of critically ill and non-ambulatory patients, thus protecting patients and care providers from fecal contact and contamination.“

She added: “Lack of fecal containment can result in breakdown of skin, contamination and exacerbation of wounds and surgical sites, and potentially contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistant pathogens.“

Peter von Dyck, president and CEO of Zassi Medical, said, “The Premier contract award provides further validation that the Zassi BMS is a new and valuable weapon in the fight against hospital acquired infections.“

Premier, a strategic alliance in U.S. healthcare, is owned by nearly 200 of the nation's hospital and healthcare systems. It provides resources supporting health services delivery in the key areas of supply chain improvement and group purchasing, comparative data and benchmarking, and insurance.