Balancing Patient Mobility and Provider Safety

CMS considers falls by patients a “never” incident, meaning that hospitals where falls by patients occur risk jeopardizing their reimbursements. The risk of injury isn’t just limited to patients however. Employees are also at risk. OSHA ranks hospitals as the most dangerous place to work, mostly due to injuries sustained while moving patients.

It may be tempting, given these two risk factors, to commit to moving patients less often, for their safety, the safety of the clinician and for the reimbursement from CMS. However, data links prompt post-surgical mobility with better outcomes and shorter hospital stays. When addressing this confluence of related issues, health systems most often rely on a fragmented approach, one that addresses falls, safe patient handling and mobility separately. Patient safety is judged as part of their overall outcomes, while falls and clinician safety are addressed through stand-alone programs. But all three areas are interrelated and thus require a holistic solution. At the same time clinicians are trained on safe patient handling, they should also be trained on patient mobility.

Medline has Uplift™ Safe Mobility Solutions Program, a comprehensive, multifaceted program that supports caregivers so they can protect their patients and themselves. The program combines fall prevention, safe patient handling and patient mobility initiatives into one comprehensive program.

“Uplift is a breakthrough and unique program that addresses all aspects of the patient’s mobility journey (boosting & repositioning, sitting to standing, and walking), while also keeping the caregivers safety a priority,” says Christine Ninchich, MSN, RN, sales nurse specialist at Medline.

“As a clinician, and having experience with moving dependent patients, this program fills a critical need for the safety of the patient and the caregiver, by providing a comprehensive and tailored assessment with post implementation education to drive sustainable change. Uplift looks at the current gaps in the organization, and presents solutions to support and address every aspect of mobility, while also having the caregivers back.”

Learn more about how Uplift is connecting safety and mobility solutions.