Preventing Pressure Injuries Led to Significant Savings, Hospital Study Shows

By Medline Newsroom Staff | December 6, 2018

A study recently released by the University of Michigan found that efforts to reduce Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries (HAPIs) over a five-year period generated an estimated $1 billion in savings. Pressure injuries, also known as bed sores, affect over one million patients a year, leading to an estimated nine billion plus in additional costs.

Where did the savings come from?

This new University of Michigan study found it was from 23 percent decrease in HAPIs from 2010-2014. For hospitals and clinicians already working to improve outcomes and quality of life for their patients, this new study reinforces the need for novel solutions and creative thinking at every level.

Best practices dictate that over the course of a patient’s stay at a hospital, frequent, if not daily, skin inspections should be conducted.

“Pressure ulcer staging shouldn’t be difficult, and this new research clearly points to the reason it can’t be ignored,” says Patricia Turner, RN BSN CWS CWOCN, clinical education specialist, Medline. “Hospitals want the best for the patient, and to also save. Achieving this can be as easy as apple pie.”

Turner is referring to the intuitive training system that compares each stage to a different state of an apple, Apple P.I.E.

Value-based programs, such as the one guiding the University of Michigan study, target the most advanced stages of HAPI, as those result in the highest costs, but ideally clinicians should to be able to identify and treat HAPIs before they reach those late stages. While correctly identifying the stage of a pressure injury can be challenging, only clinicians who can confidently identify the severity of an HAPI can begin to treat them.

The Apple P.I.E. system is just the latest example of how Medline continues to promote healthcare savings and improve outcomes improvements at every level of the hospital, from high-level administration down to patient-level interactions. Medline works with clinicians and scientists from across the U.S. and around the world to create groundbreaking products and resources that provide effective, yet economical treatment.

Learn more about ways Medline is advancing wound care.

 

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Categories: Patient Experience, Skin Health

Medline Newsroom Staff

Medline Newsroom Staff

Medline's newsroom staff researches and reports on the latest news and trends in healthcare.

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