AseptiScope

10/21/2026

84% reduction in CLABSI rates. Zero infections throughout the final year of the study.

Since the October 1 publication in Critical Care Nurse, we've seen a spike in product requests and technical demonstrations for The DiskCover® System.

The independently conducted study followed 5,226 intensive care patients over four years, documenting an 84% reduction in central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates following the integration of stethoscope hygiene with The DiskCover System into an intensive care infection prevention bundle.

The growing interest reflects an important shift in the conversation around stethoscope hygiene: from recognizing contaminated stethoscopes as a potential source of pathogen exposure to considering how aseptic stethoscope barriers can be incorporated into routine patient care.

🔗 Read our latest announcement: https://aseptiscope.com/2026/10/21/aseptiscope-clabsi-reduction-study-diskcover-system/

10/13/2026

When healthcare identifies a gap in practice, the first response is often education.

But is education enough?

A VA quality improvement project evaluated a multimodal intervention that included education, reminder flyers, and readily available cleaning supplies to improve stethoscope hygiene.

The result?

Observed stethoscope hygiene remained at 0%. The authors concluded that education and providing supplies were insufficient to change culture or habits.

This is an important lesson in implementation science.

Education creates awareness.

Sustainable practice change requires something more: an evidence-based standard, a workflow that supports it, and a way to measure performance.

The goal shouldn't simply be to educate clinicians. It should be to establish a standard worth complying with.

Have you seen education alone successfully change clinical practice, or does lasting change require more than education?

10/07/2026

Disky made it to Kettering Health in Ohio! 💙🩺

Cheyenne Poz and Brad Barta are helping raise awareness for a simple but often overlooked part of patient safety: stethoscope hygiene.

As part of his National Patient Safety Initiative, Disky travels to healthcare teams across the country to recognize Stethoscope Hygiene Champions and help keep the conversation around safe, effective stethoscope hygiene going.

It’s a message that fits especially well at Kettering Health, where safety is described as a top priority that is “owned by all” in the pursuit of zero preventable harm.

Thank you to Cheyenne and Brad for helping elevate stethoscope hygiene!

Learn more about Disky’s Stethoscope Hygiene Initiative:
https://diskcover.com/disky/

10/01/2026

A new feature from The Silicon Review takes a closer look at the growing evidence behind stethoscope hygiene and its potential role in infection prevention.

The article examines newly published real-world data from a four-year ICU project involving 5,226 patients, where the addition of The DiskCover® System and CHG-impregnated dressings to an existing CLABSI prevention bundle was associated with an 84% reduction in mean CLABSI rates.

Thank you to The Silicon Review for highlighting this important work and the growing conversation around stethoscope hygiene in patient safety.

Read the full feature:

A study links improved stethoscope hygiene with reducing potentially lethal bloodstream infections, highlighting the role of medical device disinfection in patient safety.

10/01/2026

New today: Real-world patient outcomes published in Critical Care Nurse.

A four-year quality improvement initiative followed 5,226 ICU patients at the Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center. After implementation of an enhanced CLABSI prevention bundle that included The DiskCover® System, mean CLABSI rates decreased 84%, with periods of zero CLABSIs sustained for more than a year.

This publication marks an important milestone for us and for the growing evidence around effective stethoscope hygiene in patient care.

Read full announcement: https://aseptiscope.com/2026/10/01/aseptiscope-announces-publication-reporting-an-84-reduction-in-life-threatening-infections-following-integration-of-the-diskcover-system/

AseptiScope® Announces Publication Reporting an 84% Reduction in Life-Threatening Infections Following Integration of The DiskCover System® ICU nurses who became infection preventionists integrated The DiskCover System into a 48-month prevention bundle, finding it easy to use, well accepted, and e...

09/18/2026

Every patient deserves a clean stethoscope contact during their examination!

While stethoscopes are used in nearly every patient encounter, consistently providing an aseptic patient contact has remained a longstanding challenge in healthcare.

Published research demonstrated that The DiskCover System's touch-free disposable stethoscope barrier provided a clean contact, even when applied to contaminated stethoscope diaphragms, offering a different approach to protecting patients during auscultation.

As infection prevention continues to evolve, the goal remains simple: every patient, every exam, a clean stethoscope contact.

📖 Reference: Vasudevan R, Shin JH, Chopyk J, et al. Aseptic Barriers Allow a Clean Contact for Contaminated Stethoscope Diaphragms. Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes. 2020;4(1):21-30.

09/16/2026

Something we hear often is: "There's never been an acceptable compliance rate with stethoscope hygiene."

The literature helps explain why.

❌ Clinicians rarely have 60 seconds between every patient to properly disinfect a stethoscope.
❌ Even when the full cleaning protocol is followed, studies show it reduces contamination but does not reliably decontaminate the stethoscope.
❌ Decades of education and reminders have never produced sustained, high compliance in practice.

So what are we measuring ourselves against?

If the expected standard is impractical and cannot consistently achieve the intended outcome, it shouldn't be surprising that compliance remains low.

Patient safety depends on standards that are not only evidence-based, but also practical, effective, and sustainable in real clinical workflows.

The goal shouldn't be better compliance with an ineffective process. It should be adoption of a process clinicians can consistently perform and that reliably delivers the intended outcome.

09/01/2026

AseptiScope is proud to celebrate Clinical Nurse Specialists during CNS Week 2026!

This week, we recognize the vital role CNSs play in turning evidence into practice, advancing patient safety, and leading meaningful change across healthcare.

From championing emerging evidence-based practices like stethoscope hygiene to implementing improvements across the continuum of care, CNSs are uniquely positioned to identify gaps, challenge the status quo, and lead practice change.

Thank you to the CNSs working every day to AMPLIFY better care for patients and clinicians!

National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists

08/31/2026

“Sort of clean” fails patients and undermines infection control.

Even under controlled conditions, diligent stethoscope disinfection does not reliably restore a clean patient-contact surface.

In a published study, a standardized 60-second cleaning protocol returned only about half of contaminated stethoscope diaphragms to a bacterial level comparable to clean stethoscopes. A more practical “wipe-and-go” approach performed substantially worse.

While disinfecting stethoscopes between patients remains the recommended standard of care, the evidence raises an important question:

How can we make clean patient contact more reliable, consistent, and practical, especially for our most vulnerable patients?

📖 Reference: Knecht VR, McGinniss JE, Shankar HM, et al. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2019;40(2):171–177.

07/31/2026

After surviving a life threatening MRSA infection, Bill Schmelzer was left with a question that many patients never get answered.

"Where did it come from?"

While the exact source of his infection may never be known, his experience inspired him to become a passionate advocate for stronger infection prevention practices and greater awareness of overlooked transmission risks.

One of those risks is the stethoscope diaphragm, a medical device used on patient after patient throughout the day. Despite decades of research demonstrating contamination and low between-patient cleaning compliance, stethoscope hygiene remains an important opportunity to improve patient safety.

Today, Bill continues to share his story in hopes of preventing others from experiencing the same life changing consequences.

In this picture, Bill is receiving infusion therapy at Ohio State University Infusion Care in Dublin and holding Disky, the curator of safe and effective stethoscope hygiene, to help raise awareness of the importance of stethoscope hygiene and encourage conversations about protecting every patient encounter.

Thank you, Bill, for your commitment to improving patient safety for everyone, and thank you to OSU for taking good care of Bill!

Whether you're a clinician or a patient, please consider joining Disky's National Patient Safety Initiative to raise stethoscope hygiene awareness and share your story! https://diskcover.com/disky