The modern American medical industry makes use of many different medicines and technology, and this includes, among other things, IV pumps and IV infusion bags and solutions, not to mention catheters and collection bags. Hospital equipment routinely involves such catheters, IV pumps, and more, and this is part of how a hospital will manage and budget its equipment needs. This may include such brands as Hospira pumps and others, and these Hospira pumps may do some good to keep patients in good shape during their stay at the hospital. What may these Hospira pumps do, and when is it time for a catheter?

h3>On IV Pumps

Ever since the late 1960s, IV, or infusion pumps, have been used by the American medical industry, and they may be either large volume pumps or small volume pumps. Some hospital patients will have need for such pumps and their contents, and this may be factored into the patient’s overall hospital bill and level of treatment received. Actual costs and insurance needs may vary, but plenty of Americans will find themselves in need of this. In the United States today, some 10,000 people reach the retirement age of 65 each day, and elderly Americans often have greatest need for medical care and hospital visits. Such Americans often have the most robust healthcare insurance, and they may need anything from regular medication to IV drips to surgery more often than younger adults.

Infusion pumps such as Hospira pumps and related brands will be used plenty often. This market is growing, in fact, and estimates show that it may reach a value of just over $5 billion by the year 2024. What is more, the Materiel Services (MS) department of the University of Michigan Health Systems showed that 86% of all patients admitted into hospital beds need an infusion pump. Sometimes, these will be smart pumps, which more carefully regulate how the fluid are administered. This is becoming more common today, and a report from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists shows that in 2013, some 72.9% of American hospitals are using smart infusion pumps. This is a steep climb from the 44% usage rate back in 2007.

Sch pumps may be either manual or electric, and they will operate either on a large or a small scale, depending on what is being administered. If the patient is being fed nutrients, larger IV bags and pumps will be used, and medicine and hormones are administered using smaller ones. In fact, it has been found that intravenous therapy is the fastest way to deliver medication or fluids to the body, since it yields a bio-availability absorption rate of 100%. A patient in a modern American hospital may be fed nutrients if they cannot eat for themselves due to injuries or a coma or paralysis, and they may receive medications and hormones as needed in carefully controlled amounts. Some medicines are fluids rather than pills, and a person undergoing hormonal therapy may use them as well. Post menopausal women often choose to undergo hormone replacement therapy to boost their estrogen levels, and they often report positive results.

Catheters

A loosely related, and in some ways opposite, medical procedure is the insertion and use of catheters. These catheters allow a person to remove urine from the body and collect it in an external bag, and this is commonly done for patients who cannot easily move and relieve themselves in a bathroom. A person may also be suffering from incontinence; that is, difficulty with urination even outside of the hospital. An enlarged prostate gland may cause this problem for older men, as may the weakening of certain muscles or even arthritis. An arthritis sufferer may have trouble unzipping and lowering their pants, causing circumstantial incontinence. A concerned person may visit their urologist and have a catheter put in, and this person may carry the entire assembly around with them to maintain mobility. The user will be advised to regularly empty out their collection bag and replace it every two weeks or once per month, to keep everything clean and hygienic. Such catheters and their collection bags may be used discreetly, too, for the comfort of the user. Some people may not like advertising their use of a catheter.