I have absolutely no interest in KCI or BlueSky, but I will tell you as a former Distributor of Capitol medical equipment, I have heard from many and I mean many people in the health care setting who are going to switch to BlueSKy. They all had the same thing to say and that is KCI has ben ripping them off with the woundvac. Which is nothing more than a negative pressure suction unit. THe exact same thing as the BlueSky. You can put makeup on a pig, but in the end it is still a pig. I cannot believe you and BlueSky are charging that much for a simple suction unit. Again I have experience with both and in the clinical setting the nurses and doctors all agreed that there is little difference between the tow products. Except for the price. Which I think both are was over priced. The disposables are a joke. I will side with Bluesky on those. At least theirs are more accessable and a much less expensive. I have had to do comparisons in the past between the two and there is very little clinical difference in the outcomes. In fact in one trial that was done in an cute care facility by a reather large Long term care corporation, there was no difference at all. Except in the the pricing. They were looking at switching out to the Bluesky no matter what the outcome of the judicial ruling. I do not blame them. They were spending millions annually with you guy. Again, I also think that the Bluesky is a nothing more than a suction pump, but man were you guys ripping off your customers. And all of the ones I spoke with (thousands) throughout my career, were very anxious to find an alternative to the woundvac. KCI has make its money, now it is time to let the cat out of the bag on this one.
You get what you pay for. If you think you get the same results with both products you are sadly mistaken or blind. It should be about pt outcomes. Blue sky is nothing more then guaze and a gomco if that worked we would have been using it along time ago. The long and short is, it doesn't WORK. We trialed it at the facility I work for and got rid of it. There are other products that are up and coming but I dought it will be the bluesky gomco that's going to take KCI down.
As a wound care specialist, I have to say that I have seen the "me too" product do a great job also. KCI will feed you what they want to feed you and have you believing it. Don't get me wrong, I understand the concept of microdeformation with VAC and this is a good product but it is not the only one that will do the job well. When you work for a company of this size, they will do what they have to to make you believe that the product you are selling is the best. How else do you sell a product you can "believe in"?
It is not only about the product but also about the people and KCI is making some serious mistakes with "people" and I believe that it will come back to "bite them in the ass." It is ashame that I will not be here to see it.
They won't be as big as they think in the future. Competition will get them eventually. The competition may not be superior now, but one day it may be better!
I guess my question would be if all the other NPWT were the same, how come KCI made over $1 billion last year? If the other guys have such a good product, would they not be as popular also? I do believe KCI has the market niche, and yes, it's only a matter of time before everyone figures out their shortcomings and comes out with good stuff producing good outcomes. Whatever you think about the VAC, it still does a great job!
Q: Years later and where is blue sky Trolls????? A: Gone, out of business for years and KCI still chugging along. EOM
kci has now removed the words "Clinical Advantage" from its drape "so that that clinicians can visualize the wound better"!! Riiggghhhhttttttt!! That logo signified the days of a great company. Good by Clinical Advantage.
