Exploring the Evidence and Devices Designed to Prevent Ventilator-associated Pneumonia

VAP is a serious potential complication for patients receiving multiple days of respiratory support. Not only does VAP occur frequently, impacting up to 15% of intensive care unit (ICU) ventilated patients, it is also one of the most dangerous ICU-acquired infections with a mortality rate near 50%.

While respiratory therapists and nurses routinely take multiple actions to reduce the risk of VAP, its prevalence continues. Furthermore, VAP is considered a hospital acquired infection; therefore, treating patients with VAP is not typically reimbursed. What else can hospitals and health systems do to protect patients and reduce the occurrence of this costly infection?

ECRI recently reviewed the clinical evidence for endotracheal tubes fitted with subglottic secretion drainage ports and is currently testing several devices in the lab. Join our lab webcast to learn about our recent findings.

Learning objectives

During this session, we'll discuss:

• The incidence and costs of VAP
• Standard workflows to reduce VAP without drainage
• Subglottic secretion draining techniques
• The evidence supporting use of subglottic drainage
• Hands on lab testing of subglottic drainage technology

Register to view the recording

Jason Launders

Director of Operations, Device Evaluation, ECRI
Jason Launders has been at ECRI since 1998 and is currently the Director of Operations for the Device Evaluation group. Jason’s primary responsibility is managing ECRI’s laboratory-based evaluations of medical technologies. Jason has an MSc in Medical Physics and spent his earlier time at ECRI evaluating a wide range of diagnostic imaging technology, such as: CT, MRI, PACS, and Digital Radiography. Today, he is responsible for developing the content of evaluations to ensure they meet the needs of our members.

Ericka Kalp, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC

Director of Consulting, PSRQ Risk Management Contracts, ECRI
Ericka Kalp has 20 years of experience in Epidemiology and Infection Prevention and Control across acute care, long-term care, ambulatory care, and specialty clinics. Currently the Director of PSRQ Consulting at ECRI, she previously served as an Epidemiologist and Program Manager at the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH), Bureau of Epidemiology, Healthcare–Associated Infection Prevention and Antimicrobial Stewardship program. Prior to her position with the DOH, she served as the Director of Epidemiology and Infection Prevention at WellSpan Health (formerly Summit Health) for fourteen years.

Savvas Pavlides, PhD

Senior Manager, Scientific Quality, Clinical Evidence-Genetic Test Assessment, ECRI
Savvas Pavlides is senior manager, scientific quality for Clinical Evidence Assessment and Genetic Test Assessment. He joined ECRI in 2014 and leads a large analyst team responsible for producing clinical evidence assessments that focus on diverse health technology topics, many of which are driven by the needs of current ECRI members. Savvas’ background is in cancer biology and includes focus on cell and molecular biology, as well as high throughput proteomics. Prior to working at ECRI, he was a research scientist at New York University Cancer Center.

Kathy Punzo

Senior Project Officer, Device Evaluation, ECRI
Kathy Punzo is senior project officer for Device Evaluation and Functional Equivalents at ECRI. She has more than 35 years’ experience in health care. Prior to joining ECRI, she served as a Respiratory Therapist and a manager of Respiratory and Non-Invasive Cardiology department for Jefferson Northeast.

Ismael Cordero

Senior Project Officer, Device Evaluation, ECRI
Ismael's focus is the evaluation of medical devices used for intensive care and respiratory therapy. Before joining ECRI, Ismael worked in more than 50 countries where he led many training and consultative activities for biomedical engineers and technicians, clinical personnel, and hospital administrators. These activities included collaborations with the American College of Clinical Engineering (ACCE) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Cordero was the recipient of the 2008 ACCE Professional Achievement in Management Award and the recipient of the 2014 AAMI Foundation & ACCE’s Robert L. Morris Humanitarian Award.