Regional Medical Center is the first hospital in South Carolina to implement the Sapiens* Tip Confirmed System (TSC) to locate the placement of a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC). RMC’s three-member PICC team demonstrates this new technology.

The Regional Medical Center is the first hospital in South Carolina to implement the Sapiens* Tip Confirmed System (TSC) to locate the placement of a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC).

The normal method for finding the tip of the PICC is by X-Ray. The new method approved by the FDA is a device that provides real-time PICC tip location information by using the patient’s cardiac electrical activity. The system is faster and allows for more accurate placement, which is better for the patient and allows for quicker use of the line.

“By monitoring a patient’s heartbeat and ECG, the PICC nurses can pinpoint the catheter tip’s location, which reduces the radiation exposure to patients and shortens the time the procedure takes,” noted Katrina Coleman, a certified PICC ultrasound inserter and PICC coordinator.

Dr. Dallas W. Lovelace III, chairman of RMC’s Department of Radiology and medical director of the Breast Health Center commented, “I think the new Sapiens technology is a reliable method to confirm PICC placement, and it eliminates the cost and radiation exposure of an X-Ray.”

RMC uses a PICC team comprised of three specially trained registered nurses, who place an average of 90 PICC lines per month. The nurses learned about the new device and took the initiative to become the first hospital in S.C. and the 36th hospital in the nation to begin using the technology.

"This technology allows us to offer state-of-the-art quality care for our patients," said Sonya Ehrhardt, nurse director of the PICC Program. Ehrhardt noted that the PICC program was implemented in December of 2008, and more than 1,900 PICCs have been placed by RMC’s certified and specially trained registered nurses.

PICC lines are inserted into a vein in the patient's upper body, then advanced through increasingly larger veins toward the heart until the tip of the line rests in the desired location. A physician may order a PICC for a variety of reasons including intravenous nutrition, antibiotic therapy or some chemotherapy regimens. The PICC team nurses provide the procedure to a variety of patients in all areas of the hospital, as well as patients treated in other facilities on an outpatient basis.

The three-member team includes Katrina Coleman, Leslie Hickman and Lottie Jones. The team is part of the many outpatient services offered by RMC.

For more information about the new PICC procedure or the PICC program, contact Ehrhardt at 395-2342.