The number one cause of HAIs is S. aureus, and 50% of S. aureus infections can be linked to bacteria present in known operating room (OR) bacterial reservoirs at the time of surgery. This problem is further exacerbated by antibiotic treatment when antibiotics kill good bacteria and leave antibiotic resistant bacteria to thrive, colonize on patient skin surfaces, and to spread to the surrounding patient environment, healthcare provider hands, and to other patients undergoing health care in the same arena.
01.
HAI - 7% Infection Rate
This alarming infection rate equates to at least 840 HAIs every year for an average hospital performing 12,000 surgical procedures.
More
02.
Identifying OR Hygiene Gap
There are significant gaps in OR Hygiene practices that can and should be addressed…
More
supporting ongoing CMS penalties (https://khn.org/news/medicare-penalizes-group-of-751-hospitals-for-patient-injuries/) for hospital poor performance. RDB Bioinformatics’s[ mission is to work with patients, healthcare providers, acute care settings, and the community to identify these gaps in order that we can together execute on creating a safer OR environment. We offer optimized bacterial surveillance through use of an innovative software platform, OR PathTrac, in the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative environments to reduce patient, hospital, and community exposure to high-risk bacteria.
03.
Improvement Fidelity Measurements
Once gaps in basic practices are identified, RDB works with institutions to design, continually monitor the effect of interventions…
More
on OR bacterial transmission within and between patients. This is achieved through use of OR PathTrac, the only prospective, dynamic, multilevel, bacterial surveillance system on the market today. This system is specifically designed to optimize basic preventive measures in targeting the most dangerous bacteria today, including Enterococcus, S. aureus, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Enterobacter spp. (ESKAPE). OR PathTrac provides an evidence-based guidance system for bacterial tracking that optimizes routine hand hygiene, catheter and syringe care, environmental cleaning, and patient decolonization practices. Use of advanced technologies within a proprietary platform allows individual and group level feedback for improvement.
04.
Failure to offer patient decolonization
RDB offers a unique, comprehensive decolonization program that can reduce the odds of infection by approximately 50%.
More
RDB identifies and reports patient Enterococcus, S. aureus, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Enterobacter (ESKAPE) colonization status directly to the patient for the purpose of guiding evidence-based decolonization strategies prior to surgery. After surgery, RDB will serve patients and the community to limit spread of bacterial pathogens acquired during care back to the home.
RDB Bioinformatics: PathTrac Services
Optimizing Operating Room Hygiene Practices to Reduce Healthcare-Associated Infections
Home Pathtrac – The Patient
Reducing Surgical Infection Risk Prior to the Incision
In today’s operating rooms, preoperative decolonization, a highly effective, cost-effective preventive measure to reduce patient risk of infection is not utilized for all patients undergoing surgery. Bacterial surveillance to optimize decolonization, hand hygiene, vascular care, and environmental cleaning is not universally leveraged to protect patients from bacterial transmission in the OR. Preoperative patient culture status is not utilized for all patients to ensure that effective prophylactic antibiotics are chosen for infusion prior to the surgical incision. RDB Bioinformatics offers an advanced solution to this problem.
OR Pathtrac – The Hospital
Reducing Surgical Infection Risk Prior to the Incision
Total bacterial counts in operating rooms drive the development of surgical site infections. Operating room bacterial traffic is fueled by efficacy of provider hand hygiene, both routine cleaning and between-case environmental cleaning, and patient decolonization efforts that lead to bacterial injection through intravascular devices and subsequent infection development.
Why We Are Different
01.
Proactive
Rather than reporting on infections when the opportunity has passed, we report on the transmission, and focus on improvement in key areas at the source of the problem.
02.
Partner
We are your partner in improvement efforts. Working together to improve processes.
03.
Flexible
Have a key problem area you want to address? We can work together to address specific issues.
04.
Complete
From the patient, through the OR, and on to the recovery ward. Our system can track bacterial transmissions through the entire patient experience.
RDB Bioinformatics: Who We Are
RDB Bioinformatics is focused on helping patients, hospitals, and the medical community to work together to address HAIs and increasing bacterial resistance.
Our primary goals are to address the goals put forth by the Centers for Disease Control including prevention of infections for patients undergoing surgery, prevention of bacterial spread between patients, and improving antibiotic stewardship. Our overarching goal is to maximize patient safety today and for the future, preventing high risk OR bacterial transmission and infection development.
Highly Qualified Team
Randy W. Loftus, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Director of Research
Randy Loftus, MD is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine.
Darrin Loftus
President,
Chief Executive Officer
Darrin Loftus has more than 20 years of business management experience in start-up, product design and development, sales, marketing and operations.
Brandon Gordon
Chief Operations Officer, Director of IT
Brandon Gordon brings almost 20 years of IT operations experience to RDB’s leadership team and has been a trusted advisor to RDB in the areas of IT design, implementation, and other critical areas of the operation.
Bryan S. Mick, JD, MBA
General Counsel
Bryan S. Mick is the President of Mick Law P.C. in Omaha, Nebraska, and a provider of independent due diligence legal services for various broker-dealers and registered investment advisors.
Read the Whitepaper
Dr. Randy Loftus published a white paper specifically for the purpose of discussing the details of the RDB Pathtrac system, both the problem and the solution.
Download the white paper to get full details of the program.
Get In Touch!
We are looking forward to start a project with you!
Contact us today to start improving, and quantifying your improvement efforts today. We can schedule a discussion with your team and ours.
Nebraska1055 North 115th Street |
IowaRDB Bioinformatics |
Share Your Story
We would love to hear from you.
If want your story told so others can avoid the pain you experienced, please submit it. From time to time, we will choose appropriate stories to highlight on this site, or on our Facebook page.
PLEASE NOTE: By submitting this form, you are irrevocably giving permission to RDB Bioinformatics’ officers, agents, employees, successors, licensees, and assignees to use this text for the use of online and print. This is completely voluntary and up to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do I use the kit?
At least 10 days prior to surgery, or otherwise used as needed.
Why would you worry about bacteria before surgery? Don’t doctors take care of that?
Doctors do take care to keep the environment and hands clean, but even in a controlled area like the operating room some things are out of their control. Providers leave the operating room and return during surgery, environmental cleaning, and hand hygiene are the most common areas that need to be addressed. Our goal is to protect the patient regardless of the state of the operating room.
What bacteria are important? Why?
S. aureus is the most common superbug. Along with the related MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) are transmitted from patient to patient and do cause a high percentage of infections related to surgery.
What is the difference between MRSA and staph?
MRSA is a subset of S. aureus that is resistant to Methicillin. It is more virulent than basic staph.
How do they cause infection during surgery?
Patients are most vulnerable during surgery. When the skin is punctured and open, bacteria on hands, environment, and even air can enter an otherwise sterile bloodstream and cause serious infections.
How to doctors know what antibiotic to give before surgery?
That is what we are helping with. Doctors give antibiotic based on common historic data, rather than current known data specific to your specific bacteria. Bacteria causes infection, antibiotic kills bacteria. Prescribing the best antibiotic is extremely important.
How do they know whether or not I need to get rid of my bacteria, and whether or not I did?
Some bacteria is less prone to spread, and may not be as important to address. Others are more virulent, and more easily spread, and more commonly lead to infection. Those are the ones that are most important.
What does the kit include?
The kit includes an at-home collection system that you return to our lab. We process those samples and give you a fine report on the findings. Our team of physicians will work with your surgeon or primary care doctor to determine the best course of action for the best outcome. We are your advocate and work for you .
Honors
| 2002 | Seed Grant Research Award, American Medical Association |
| 2003 | American Society of Internal Medicine Award, American College of Physicians |
| 2003 | William R. Wilson Award for Exceptional Accomplishment in Internal Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA |
| 2008 | Research Award Department of Anesthesiology |
| 2009 | APSF/Anesthesia Healthcare Partners (AHP) Research Award |
| 2010 | Lead and cover article in Anesthesiology |
| 2010 | Most read article for the year 2010 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins |
| 2011 | Lead and cover article in Anesthesia and Analgesia |
| 2011 | Invited member of the Technical Expert Panel (TEP) for a project sponsored by AHRQ designed to conduct a systematic review of preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis and to design a new protocol based on that systematic review. |
| 2012 | CME designated article in Anesthesia and Analgesia |
| 2015 | Lead and cover article in Anesthesia and Analgesia; Issue dedicated to body of work. |
| 2018 | APSF/ASA Presidents’ Research Award |
Highlights:
In 2009, Dr. Loftus’s research was awarded the APSF/Anesthesia Healthcare Partners (AHP) Research Award for his project titled, “Assessment of Routine Intraoperative Horizontal Transmission of Potentially Pathogenic Bacterial Organisms and Associated Morbidity and Mortality https://www.apsf.org/newsletters/html/2009/winter/03_grantrecip.htm
In 2018, Dr. Loftus’s research was awarded the APSF/ASA President’s Research Award for his project titled, “Reducing Perioperative S. aureus Transmission via use of an Evidence-Based, Multimodal Program Continually Optimized by Innovative Surveillance (OR PathTrac).” (https://www.apsf.org/grants_recipients.php)
Sample sizes defined in a published paper – Franklin Dexter, Johannes Ledolter, Russell T. Wall, Subhradeep Datta, Randy W. Loftus, Sample sizes for surveillance of S. aureus transmission to monitor effectiveness and provide feedback on intraoperative infection control including for COVID-19, Perioperative Care and Operating Room Management Volume 20, September 2020, 100115