Sponge safety company ClearCount Medical Solutions hired David Haffner to be its new CFO.
Haffner, who was CFO for medical technology companies including RedPath Integrated Pathology and Renal Solutions, will oversee the day-to-day financial operations of Pittsburgh-based ClearCount and will be responsible for its financial strategy, according to a press release.
ClearCount’s SmartWand system was recently cleared for U.S. sales by the Food & Drug Administration. The system uses radio-frequency identification technology to detect with chips embedded in sponges to allow surgeons and nurses to count and detect them before, during and after operations. The goal is to help hospitals avoid leaving sponges inside patients, a type of so-called "never event" — a serious and costly medical error that, in a perfect world, should never happen.
ClearCount’s other product, the SmartSponge system, was cleared by the FDA in 2007. That system counts all the sponges to be used in an operation before it starts, then reconciles that number with the number of sponges returned to a receptacle after the surgery. In contrast, the SmartWand can count sponges, but doesn’t provide an in-and-out reconciliation of the number of sponges used in a procedure.
ClearCount is a portfolio company of Draper Triangle Ventures.
