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Converting to universal feeding and gravity sets reduces risk and improves patient safety from hospital to home.

DUBLIN, Ohio, [May 12, 2022] – Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) today announced its conversion to ENFit® enteral feeding connectors, which are the new industry-wide safety standard for tube-fed patients. Led by the Global Enteral Device Supplier Association (GEDSA), of which Cardinal Health is a founding member, this conversion to ENFit® by manufacturers around the world helps caregivers connect delivery systems to the appropriate port, which helps protect tube-fed patients.  

Historically, the market contained varying types of feeding and gravity set connectors from various manufacturers. With oversight from GEDSA, all manufacturers are now utilizing the universal ENFit® enteral feeding connector. Its unique, ISO 80369-3-compliant design reduces the risk of misconnections between enteral feeding and non-enteral feeding systems, which improves patient safety across the continuum of care. 

“There are more than 300 identified conditions that can require a person to need nutritional support through a feeding tube, and about 40% of enterally-fed individuals are children,” said Kelley Moffett, senior vice president of Global Products at Cardinal Health. “The peace of mind that comes with knowing the ENFit® connector can’t fit into any other type of port, like an IV port, is incredible to both caregivers in the home and over-burdened clinicians caring for patients in health care settings. We’re very proud to be a part of this industry change that will help improve safety and outcomes for tube-fed patients and their caregivers.”

Seanne Wedman, a clinical products specialist at Cardinal Health Canada and former RN who feeds her son every day enterally, is thrilled with this conversion that will improve her quality of life as a caregiver, and most importantly, help improve outcomes for her son, Cameron.

“After 11 years of using feeding sets for Cameron, we are very familiar with the challenges involved, including spills and disconnections, which make it hard to track the quantity and nutrition delivered,” Wedman said. The continuity of care and reliable connection ENFit® provides is life-changing for us. It means I don’t have to worry about formula leaking and can be sure my son is consistently receiving his full calorie count and medications – whether I am administering his nutrition, or it’s our nanny or night nurse.”

“As Seanne highlights, ENFit® truly improves patients’ and caregivers’ experiences, quality of life, and outcomes,” said Ben Davis, executive director at GEDSA. “We’re grateful for Cardinal Health’s efforts in helping us advance our mission as a key partner in this global patient safety initiative, which will reduce the risks of potentially fatal medical device misconnections, minimize unintentional disconnections, and decrease loss of prescribed nutrition.”

Designed to make enteral feeding safer, ENFit® also:

• Increases familiarity in all healthcare settings with standardized connectors across the industry
• Addresses connections between feeding tubes, administration sets, medication, flush and bolus feeding syringes and other enteral devices
• Provides a locking feature that signals the appropriate connection and stays in place
• Reduces the potential for leaks at the connector site due to a more secure fit
• Passes a rigorous validation process, including computer aided design, human factors and usability testing as part of the pathway to ISO standards

To learn more, visit the ENFit® page on cardinalhealth.com.

About Cardinal Health 

Cardinal Health is a distributor of pharmaceuticals, a global manufacturer and distributor of medical and laboratory products, and a provider of performance and data solutions for health care facilities. With 50 years in business, operations in more than 30 countries and approximately 44,000 employees globally, Cardinal Health is essential to care. Information about Cardinal Health is available at cardinalhealth.com.

Media Relations, Cardinal Health: Courtney Tobin: (614) 822-4016, courtney.tobin@cardinalhealth.com