Time Savings and Operational Efficiency in Healthcare: The Case for RightSpotpH®

Streamlining Patient Care Through Rapid NG/OG Tube Placement Verification

Hospitals are always looking for ways to help staff work more efficiently while still giving great care. Nasogastric (NG) and orogastric (OG) tube placement verification offers significant opportunities for improvement. RightBio Metrics’ RightSpotpH® Indicator represents a substantial advancement in this essential procedure.

The RightSpotpH® Indicator, developed by physicians with expertise in gastroenterology and emergency medicine, addresses a fundamental challenge: accurate verification of tube placement without delays or excessive costs. This pH-based technology uses the stomach’s natural acidity to provide immediate confirmation of proper tube placement.

The Hidden Costs of Traditional Verification Methods

Traditional methods for verifying NG/OG tube placement involve X-rays or less reliable techniques that delay treatment, increase costs and potentially compromise patient safety. X-rays, while effective, require scheduling, patient transportation and specialist interpretation. Auscultation methods have proven to be highly inaccurate with the potential for dangerous patient outcomes.

These conventional approaches create several operational challenges:

• Extended patient wait times for X-ray results
• Increased workload for radiology departments already managing high patient volumes
• Higher radiation exposure for patients, especially concerning for vulnerable populations
• Delayed nutrition and medication administration, potentially extending recovery time
• Longer hospital stays and associated costs

Immediate Verification: The RightSpotpH® Advantage

When you need to confirm tube placement, every minute counts for both your patients and staff. The RightSpotpH® Indicator transforms this critical verification process with immediate results that directly impact your workflow and patient outcomes.

The RightSpotpH® Indicator uses gastric pH testing to verify tube placement instantly, offering multiple benefits across healthcare settings:

Rapid Confirmation Without Radiology

Healthcare facilities using RightSpotpH® can verify tube placement at the bedside without waiting for radiology services. This immediate confirmation allows for:

• Faster feeding and medication administration
• Reduced burden on radiology departments
• Shorter wait times for patients
• better use of nursing time
• Elimination of unnecessary radiation exposure

Cost Reduction Through Faster Care

When you implement RightSpotpH® in your facility, you’ll see substantial economic benefits. Healthcare facilities can expect:

• Fewer X-rays ordered for tube verification
• Lower labor costs for tube placement confirmation
• Reduced risk of complications from misplaced tubes
• Fewer costs from delayed treatments
• Potential shorter length of stay

Curious how this could impact your facility? If you’re currently using pH strips or relying on X-rays for NG/OG tube verification, our ROI Calculator can help you estimate the potential savings of switching to the RightSpotpH® Indicator.

RightSpotpH® in Various Healthcare Settings

Your facility’s specific needs determine how RightSpotpH® delivers its greatest benefits. Across different departments, this technology adapts to unique clinical demands while consistently improving staff productivity.

These gains from the RightSpotpH® extend across multiple healthcare environments:

Emergency Department

In emergency settings, where time matters most, RightSpotpH® allows staff to:

• Verify tube placement at the patient’s bedside
• Begin treatments faster for time-sensitive conditions
• Focus on patient care rather than procedural delays
• Reduce ED crowding through faster patient processing

ICU Workflow Improvement

For intensive care units with high-acuity patients, RightSpotpH® helps staff:

• Confirm tube placement quickly for unstable patients
• Focus on complex care needs
• Minimize interruptions for X-ray procedures
• Speed up feeding protocols

NICU Applications

For neonatal patients, the RightSpotpH® SmallBore device offers specialized benefits:

• Minimizes handling of fragile neonates
• Preserves limited nursing resources
• Reduces radiation exposure for developing infants
• Enables faster nutritional support for growth-dependent patients

Real-World Staff Time Savings

Healthcare professionals using RightSpotpH® report significant time savings that directly impact workflow and patient care:

1. Elimination of X-ray ordering and results follow-up – In facilities performing dozens of tube placements daily, this can recover hours of staff time.
2. Reduction in documentation requirements – Simplifies verification records with direct pH readings instead of radiology reports. Staff document results immediately at bedside.
3. Decreased need for repeated verification attempts – Better first-time accuracy means fewer procedural repeats, reducing patient discomfort and freeing staff for other care.
4. Less coordination between departments – No need to schedule and wait for radiology services, eliminating communication delays.

Patient Flow Improvements

Beyond direct time savings, RightSpotpH® improves patient flow throughout healthcare facilities, which also has measurable impacts on improving time and resource use.

The RightSpotpH® system improves patient flow by:

• Reducing bottlenecks in the verification process
• Enabling faster transitions between care phases, such as moving from NPO status to nutrition
• Decreasing delays in nutritional support, important for recovery and reducing complications
• Supporting timely discharge by enabling earlier feeding and medication administration

Evidence-Based Best Practices

Gastric pH testing with the RightSpotpH® Indicator represents an evidence-based approach to verification methods for tube placement. By using the stomach’s natural acidic environment, the device’s intuitive design allows healthcare providers to make informed decisions quickly and confidently.

Research shows pH testing provides reliable verification in most clinical scenarios. Validating correct NG tube placement with pH is now the standard of care in the UK and is emerging as such in the United States.

Implementation Considerations

Your team will experience a smooth transition when you implement RightSpotpH®, with minimal disruption to existing workflows. The technology focuses on practical clinical application without requiring extensive system changes.

Organizations adopting this solution can expect:

• Minimal training requirements due to intuitive design, with staff becoming proficient after a single demonstration
• Easy integration into existing protocols with straightforward documentation
• Immediate workflow improvements from the first day of adoption
• Consistent verification results across staff members, reducing care variability

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