Franklin, TN, November 16, 2021 – SourceMark Medical, a US medical device company and certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), announced an exclusive master supplier partnership today with Through the Cords, a Salt Lake City-based medical equipment manufacturer, to offer the Total Control IntroducerTM (TCI) device in the US. SourceMark will take over servicing of all current customers ordering the TCI device, which includes many of the nation’s top teaching institutions.
“We are thrilled about our new partnership with SourceMark; the strength of their nation-wide sales team, along with their depth of understanding anesthesia and airway management products, is a perfect fit,” shared Through The Cords Founder and CEO, Dr. Sean Runnels. “Our goal is to help clinicians lower the nearly $6 billion in costs created as a result of complicated intubation failures and we are confident that together with SourceMark’s team we will achieve our goals.”
Through The Cords was founded in 2017 by Dr. Sean T. Runnels, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Utah. The company manufactures products that mitigate intubation and tube exchange errors, including the TCI device, which is a dynamic, articulating, intubating stylet designed to increase first-pass breathing tube placement during video laryngoscopy-assisted intubations. Up to 5% of all surgical cases using intubation encounter a difficult airway, which can delay the case by as much as 30 minutes and increase the risk of morbidity and mortality for the patient. TCI’s innovative design makes difficult intubation easier, faster, more effective, and less expensive, aligning with SourceMark’s goals to innovate the clinical experience and set the standard for healthcare through its diverse line of solutions in anesthesia and airway management, infection prevention, and surgical solutions.
“Together with Through The Cords, we’re well on our way to making procedures like intubation more effective so our healthcare workers can deliver improved patient care,” said Dan Blucher, CEO of SourceMark. “Also, it pairs perfectly with our already strong ET Tube, LMA, and Stylet business as we deliver devices that are cost-effective, purpose-built, and easy to master.”
SourceMark is one of the leading MBE master suppliers for the US healthcare market with its airway management, infection prevention, and surgical solutions. Using the strength of its Alliance Program, the partnership with Through The Cords highlights SourceMark’s sixth new product release in the last 18 months. This unique program focuses on engaging inventors and entrepreneurs from around the world to help commercialize their innovations to the US healthcare market. For more information, visit www.sourcemarkmedical.com.
About SourceMark Medical
Founded in 2002 and Headquartered in Franklin, TN, SourceMark Medical is a manufacturer and master supplier offering innovative and affordable products for health systems, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, pharmacies, and physician offices. Our medical and surgical products are uniquely designed to improve patient care and clinician engagement through their ease-of-use, utilization efficiencies, and affordable cost-point. For more information, visit www.sourcemarkmedical.com or contact customerservice@sourcemarkusa.com.
About Through The Cords
Through The Cords was founded in 2017 by Dr. Sean T. Runnels. Focused on improving access to safe intubation wherever and whenever it is needed, the inspiration for the TCI dynamic stylet came during a 3-year sabbatical from 2013-2015 providing anesthesia and teaching anesthesia trainees in Africa. Dr. Runnels spent his first year managing extreme intubations on the hospital ship Africa Mercy with Mercy Ships International in Guinea. He spent an additional two years training anesthesiology residents with the National University of Rwanda in Kigali, Rwanda. Though The Cords is dedicated to developing intubation systems that equitably and sustainably improve access healthcare worldwide. Dr. Runnels and his leadership team design, manufacture, and distribute three products that mitigate intubation and tube exchange errors. Dr. Runnels is CEO and Rashel Bertelsen is General Manager, with Corey Runnels, Troy D’Ambrosio, and W. Jessen Dear as board members and key business advisors. The device was brought to first-stage market with A TCIP Grant from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Through the Cords was a graduate student case project at the Eccles School of Business Lassonde Institute.