Edison Nation Medical
"I invented the GoGown because current disposable gowns do not control for safe containment and disposal, which can lead to cross contamination and infection,” said inventor Ginny Porowski.
Charlotte, N.C. (PRWEB) November 20, 2013
Edison Nation Medical medical device incubator and health care innovation portal, announces a licensing agreement with Medline Industries, Inc. for the GoGown™, a revolutionary disposable isolation gown designed by health care entrepreneur Ginny Porowski to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs).
Hospital-acquired infections, also known as point-of-care (POC) infections or nosocomial infections, occur during a patient’s hospitalization and are not present prior to hospital admission. According to a 2011 article, in Infection Control Today up to 70 percent of certain HAIs may be preventable with evidence-based strategies.
Registered nurse Ginny Porowski knew that used gowns and gloves, intended to protect health care workers and patients, were potential vehicles for spreading contaminants. This led to her idea for the GoGown.
The GoGown is designed with a patented interior wrapper. After removing the gown and gloves, the wearer rolls the gloves within the gown, winds this interior wrapper around the entire package and secures it using the affixed adhesive tab. The end result is a tightly bound, secure bundle whose size, shape and weight make it easy to discard without leaving any contaminated surfaces exposed.
Edison Nation Medical negotiated a licensing agreement with Medline, the nation’s largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of health care and surgical products, for the production and distribution of GoGown. Medline adds GoGown to the more than 350,000 products it currently manufactures and distributes to hospitals and other health care facilities throughout the United States.
“We’re excited to partner with Edison Nation Medical on the GoGown because they share our passion for developing solutions to our customers’ biggest challenges,” said Stephanie Pasko, vice president of Medline’s Preventive Care division. “Reducing hospital-acquired infections is a major priority for our customers and the GoGown complements our existing array of gowns, gloves, masks and other protective apparel solutions to help make it easier for our customers to enhance patient and staff safety.”
Hospital-acquired infections are a growing concern. According to a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) report, 5 percent to 10 percent of all hospital patients contract a POC infection during their hospital stay, numbers that are on the rise; about 1.7 million people acquire an infection while in a U.S. hospital each year; nearly 100,000 people die from HAIs annually. Beyond the human toll, while there is considerable variability in the costs of HAIs, the annual direct cost to U.S. hospitals to treat HAIs ranges from $28 billion to $45 billion, according to a 2009 study.
Hospital-acquired infections can occur through a variety of sources, including contact with improperly removed and discarded gowns and gloves. Current methods of disrobing and disposal do not offer a means to minimize the risk of infection, but the aforementioned RWJF report showed that effective gown disposal procedures have significantly helped to reduce MRSA infection rates in well-controlled hospital settings.
Porowski recognized that disposable isolation gowns and gloves are often discarded improperly and spill over the waste receptacles in patients’ rooms, creating an environment in which hospital workers, patients and visitors may come into contact with often-invisible contaminants on discarded gowns and gloves.
“Disposable medical gowns and gloves are supposed to protect patients, visitors, nurses and doctors from harmful infections, provided that they are used and disposed of correctly. I invented the GoGown because current disposable gowns do not control for safe containment and disposal, which can lead to cross contamination and infection,” said Porowski. “The GoGown’s unique interior panel is what enables the wearer to safely and quickly wrap it into a small bundle that can be discarded in such a way to minimize the risk of exposed contaminated areas, decrease trash volume and provide a cleaner patient environment.”
Porowski consulted a number of health care professionals and product development resources in her effort to bring the GoGown to market before teaming up with Lisa Bourget, a 20-year health care product management and business development veteran. Together, Porowski and Bourget developed the GoGown commercialization strategy and were selected for NC IDEA's Groundwork Labs in Durham, N.C., a program to help technology entrepreneurs reach their next stage. While at Groundwork, they were introduced to Edison Nation Medical. Through Edison Nation Medical, Porowski and Bourget were able to leverage the product development resources and medical connections necessary to bring the GoGown to life on a broader commercial scale.
“GoGown is a perfect example of how Edison Nation Medical can enable people who have great medical invention ideas with the ability to get their products into the marketplace,” said Robert Grajewski, Edison Nation Medical’s president. “Ginny had a novel concept, but could not gain the necessary access into the medical world until she brought the GoGown to us. We are excited for Ginny and Lisa and can see the GoGown becoming the new standard of care for isolation gowns throughout the health care industry.”
The GoGown has two issued U.S. patents and has patents pending in the European Union, Canada, India and China.
# # #
About Ginny Porowski and Lisa Bourget
Ginny Porowski, RN, MA, is a successful innovator, inventor, entrepreneur and business/life counselor for women, with prior nursing experience in rehabilitation, hospice and home health. In every facet of her life, she sees problems as opportunities that just need new and simple solutions. Porowski holds two patents on her GoGown™ invention, designed to address the risk of hospital-related infections, is sole manager of GoGown, LLC, and is a start-up member of the Nonwovens Institute at NC State University. In addition, she owns Family Life Resources, Inc. a private counseling and consulting practice in Raleigh, NC. She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Emory University and her master’s degree in counseling from Liberty University. Originally from Woodbridge, Conn., Porowski resides in Raleigh, N.C. with her husband.
Lisa Bourget, MBA, is a successful innovator, entrepreneur, and 20-year health care product management and business development executive. Throughout her career, she has been a dynamic visionary, identifying many new health care business opportunities and creating or leading several from seed concept. As an advisor to GoGown, LLC, she has collaborated with Ginny Porowski to develop and actualize the GoGown commercialization strategy. Bourget is also Director of Strategy and Partnership Development at Duke Medicine Global, where she manages international strategy and business partnership development. Bourget received her bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and her master’s degree from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Originally from Redding, Conn., she lives in Raleigh, N.C. with her husband and two sons.
About Medline Industries, Inc.
As the nation’s largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of health care and surgical products, Medline manufactures and distributes more than 350,000 products to hospitals, extended care facilities, surgery centers, physician offices, home care agencies and providers and retailers. Recently named one of the nation’s “Best and Brightest Companies to Work for,” Medline is headquartered in Mundelein, Ill, and has more than 1,100 dedicated sales representatives nationwide to support its broad product line and cost management services.
About Edison Nation Medical
Edison Nation Medical is a medical device incubator and health care innovation portal with deep product development and medical expertise. A collaboration between Carolinas HealthCare System, one of the nation’s leading health care systems, and Edison Nation, prolific product developer and online social community for inventors, Edison Nation Medical’s mission is to create more effective, efficient and safer health care through innovation by breaking down traditional barriers and providing an easy way for new medical product inventions to come to life.
Edison Nation Medical is based in Charlotte, N.C. For more information on the company, please visit http://www.EdisonNationMedical.com.
