SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – This might be hard to believe but your keyboard has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet seat. The University of Arizona recently published a study on bacteria carrying items.
Here is the University’s top five list:
- Phones;
- Desktops;
- Water fountain handle;
- Medical Carts; and
- Keyboard and Mouse.
Three of the top five are technology-based products and those products have led to more than two million hospital acquired infections, according to Frank DeSanti of Seal Shield LLC of Chicago, Ill.
Seal Shield was on hand at the VARnex Fall Conference to tell channel partners that these hospital acquired infections have resulted in more than 100,000 deaths annually. In fact, hospital acquired infections is the fourth leading killer of Americans, said DiSanti, who is the vice president of sales, US and international for the company.
He added that there is a huge cost association with these infections. DeSanti cited the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta’s report that pegged the annual direct costs to hospitals at $35 million to $45 million.
Seal Shield has several solutions for this issue. The company makes waterproof, washable keyboards, mice, TV remotes, mobile cases and bumbers for tablets. There main target is healthcare but they also go into education and government.
These products are dishwasher safe and antimicrobial. The products are built with an inorganic antimicrobial protection into the plastic. These additives are registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and are healthcare compliant. They also come with a lifetime warranty.
The fully digital hospitals (two are about to be opened in Toronto and in Sault Sainte Marie, Ont.) will lead to a big market opportunity for channel partners, DeSanti said.
“More healthcare facilities are going to electronic healthcare records. Many used to just write things down but now more desktops are getting funded by the government and there will be more of a need for keyboards and mice. Why not bring them a solution with medical grade keyboards and mice with your hardware from Lenovo and Dell. These types of solutions will break the chain of infection,” DeSanti said.
Many healthcare facilities have between five to 10,000 keyboards and mice. DeSanti said there is a volume opportunity for the channel with Seal Shield.
Seal Shield has also developed a channel program for their products. The program includes:
- Free evaluation units;
- Web presence;
- Field presence;
- Co-marketing activity;
- Lead generation program;
- Big deal pricing; and
- Spiffs.
DeSanti added that Seal Shield does not sell direct and exclusively works with solution provider through Synnex.
