IPC Partnership with Molnlycke Health Care 

Background

Molnlycke Health Care recently took on distribution of Steriwave, a product which utilises nasal photodisinfection to achieve patient decolonisation to reduce the risk of infections with Staphylococus aureus and other organisms, especially after planned surgical procedures. Steriwave reduces microbial contamination in the nose by using light activated reactive oxygen molecules to inactive micro-organisms, which could otherwise go on to cause infections. The purpose of decolonisation is to reduce the incidence of surgical site infections (SSIs), which result in a significant burden on patients and healthcare organisations.

The challenge

Molnlycke wanted to understand more about the application and use cases of Steriwave in the UK acute setting. This led to Molnlycke commissioning IPC Partners to convene an expert panel. Prior to hosting the expert panel, IPC Partners worked closely with Molnlycke to develop a comprehensive pre-read and list of questions to ensure the panel was focused and maximised their return on investment.

The expert panel

IPC Partners utilised their expansive network of healthcare professionals to involve a range of different specialties and professional backgrounds to participate in the expert panel. The panel included experts with backgrounds in IPC nursing,  SSI surveillance, surgery, infectious diseases, and microbiology. The  diverse skillset of the multidisciplinary and multiprofessional panel was crucial to understand the potential -cases, discuss evaluation considerations, and identify barriers and facilitators to the implementation of Steriwave.

The outputs

The expert panel in central London resulted in a rich discussion providing valuable information for Molnlycke to shape their marketing and sales strategy for Steriwave in the UK and other markets. The panel also provided insights on potential innovations of Steriwave to improve the chances of implementation in healthcare organizations. IPC Partners summarised the outputs into a briefing paper, which provided a list of key recommendations and considerations to support adoption of Steriwave in healthcare organisations.