Accounting for roughly $10 billion in annual healthcare spending, pressure ulcers are a vast and growing problem in the United States, according to a recent whitepaper published by Leaf Healthcare, a wireless patient monitoring solutions provider.
Highlighted below are five things to know about pressure ulcers, their effect on patient care and their burden on the healthcare system.
1. Pressure ulcers occur most commonly in elderly patients, which is the fastest-growing segment of the population. This means the number of patients at risk for developing pressure ulcers is expected to increase dramatically in the coming decades.
2. The currently accepted standard of care to prevent pressure ulcer is to turn high-risk patients at least every two hours, both day and night.
3. A significant number of patients are not being turned appropriately, according to some studies that have estimated that caregiver compliance with established patient turning protocols ranges from 30 percent to 66 percent.
4. Difficulty monitoring patient position, ineffective turn reminders and alerts, and sub-optimal caregiver staffing ratios are a few potential explanations for the low caregiver compliance rates.
5. Monitoring systems that provide caregivers with information regarding a patient's position over time may help address the need for improved pressure ulcer prevention and treatment methods.
To read the full whitepaper, click here.
More articles on pressure ulcers:
Leapfrog tracks progress in pressure ulcers, injuries, CAUTIs & CLABSIs: 7 takeaways
How CTCA Philadelphia lowered pressure ulcer rates to 1%
Desert Valley Medical Center implements sensor to avoid pressure ulcers