FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
San Diego, CA — March 6th, 2026 — Infection Control Today (ICT) has released a new “Peer Exchange” video series of interviews with experts in infection prevention, hosted by Tori Whitacre Martonicz, Lead Editor and author of ICT’s December exposé, “The Dirty Truth About Stethoscopes.”
The newly released video series engages national experts in stethoscope hygiene, as well as three infection‑prevention innovators who have integrated AseptiScope’s unique technology, The DiskCover® System, with exceptional results. They review how the integration of stethoscope hygiene with The DiskCover System has reduced life-threatening infections, improved hygiene compliance, and elevated patient experience. The comprehensive peer exchange features a dozen video topics with facilitated discussion from established and emerging experts in stethoscope hygiene.
For decades, healthcare providers and infection preventionists have suffered with a significant problem and no effective option for addressing a serious patient safety issue. With a long history of failed options for stethoscope hygiene, an innovation that is designed and validated to advance patient safety is a welcome relief.
“It makes perfect sense.”
Peter Graves, BSN, RN, CNOR, an expert in aseptic process from his foundation as an OR nurse, immediately recognized The DiskCover System as the right solution.
“In the operating room, we’ve been using barriers forever,” he said. “It makes perfect sense to isolate the instrument away from the patient.”
“The disk cover barrier eliminates direct contact with the patient.”
“This problem has been undermining our hand hygiene protocols for decades,” said Frank Peacock, MD, Baylor Professor of Medicine, and one of the most published authorities in this category.
“We know that stethoscope cleaning between patients has been an abject failure, and in the peer-reviewed literature, the score is zero successes, thirty failures. The disk cover barrier eliminates direct contact between the stethoscope and the patient, and its touch-free dispensing ensures an easy, immediate, and clean patient exam.”
Frontline innovators have not only integrated this technology with impressive results, but have documented the impact on patient safety, patient experience, infection control compliance, and most importantly, lowering healthcare associated infections.
“The DiskCover System Matters”
“We know that stethoscopes can stay contaminated with resistant organisms even after proper alcohol cleaning,” said Dr. Natalia Nunez, who leads infection prevention for the Miami Cancer Institute (MCI), the new oncology flagship at Baptist Health South Florida.
“For me, the DiskCover (System) matters because it gives our most vulnerable patients an extra layer of safety. And it removes one more thing for them to worry about as they navigate such a difficult and overwhelming kind of disease process.”
“Disk Covers Are Great”
At the Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, infection control expert Naomi Ragsdale, BSN, RN, emphasized the data in peer-reviewed journals pointing to the technology.
“It’s such an easy way to prevent contamination,” she said. “Having this information, we can’t just ignore it now.”
Ragsdale and her team lowered central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates by 84% for Veterans, until this life-threatening infection disappeared. Their accomplishment was presented at the 2025 National Teaching Institute Conference for critical care experts.
“We Now Know How Serious It Is”
Wendy Simpson, MSN, RN, CCRN, FCCS, both a critical care nurse and infection preventionist, sees the problem and the solution through both lenses and puts the importance of stethoscope hygiene into context.
“We know now how serious it (stethoscope contamination) is. They’ve said it for years; your stethoscope is your third hand. We need to be taking its aseptic use with the same (gravity) as our hands.”
About the Peer Exchange and Infection Control Today
Infection Control Today is a trusted publication for infection preventionists, healthcare epidemiologists, and clinical leaders. ICT delivers evidence‑based reporting, expert insights, and practical tools to support safer healthcare environments across acute care, ambulatory care, and long‑term care settings. The video series can be viewed online at: Stethoscope Hygiene Gaps Persist: Infection Prevention Leaders Call for Workflow-Based Solutions to Reduce HAIs | Peer Exchange | Infection Control Today
About AseptiScope
AseptiScope is a San Diego-based medical innovation company dedicated to advancing patient safety through touch‑free clinical hygiene technology. Its flagship product, The DiskCover® System, is the first fully automated stethoscope barrier solution designed to eliminate device‑to‑patient pathogen transmission. AseptiScope partners with healthcare providers nationwide to strengthen infection prevention practices and protect patients from avoidable exposure.
Media Contact
Name: Anthony Pham
Title: Market Development Director
Email: apham@aseptiscope.com
Phone: (858) 382-8142
Website: www.aseptiscope.com
