As a clinician, you know that better outcomes matter. You act as the patients advocate, and you use your clinical expertise and evidence-based practices to provide the most appropriate and highest quality of care and best outcomes that you can.
You have worked hard to provide a safe, comfortable environment, focusing on patient interactions, therapy and quality of life, but maybe you haven’t considered the types of products that you are using in any great depth, because they are already there… chosen by the facility without your input. Often times, these products are chosen for total lowest cost, not for the best clinical value.
Pressure ulcers and falls continue to occur, and you scratch your head for a solution to the problem…after all, you have done your best for the patient, right..?
Working hard for your patients as well as working smart assures the best clinical outcomes. The missing element to most care plans is making the decision not to go with a commodity, non-evidenced product, but to evaluate your patient individually and choose appropriate support surface and seating products, based on patient need and available product clinical evidence.
Clinical evidence shows us that better outcomes can be achieved by practicing evidence-based care and by only using evidence-based products.
Take the examples of Pressure Injuries and Falls. As you look to select appropriate support surfaces and seating options that will support fall and wound prevention, ask your purchasing department to obtain the true, published, multi-patient clinical outcome data for the products you are considering… after all, you wouldn’t choose a non-evidenced drug or therapy, so why would you not demand clinical evidence for something which interfaces so intimately with your patients, and contributes directly to their outcomes.
By practicing evidence-based care, using evidence-based mattress and seating products that protect against pressure injuries and falls, you will achieve the objectives of overall reduced costs, improved patient satisfaction, improved facility ratings and what you started out to achieve in the first place – improved quality of care and better outcomes.
With product clinical evidence, you can assess the benefit of certain mattresses and seating devices versus the risks of not doing so. Making an informed decision with real patient clinical data will enable you to predict better outcomes, and help your organization to develop a care protocol that demands clinical evidence for all of the right reasons. Colleagues within your organization, including purchasing Managers will benefit from being part of the interdisciplinary care team, and from seeing the improved outcome results and long-term fiscal benefits that an evidence-based product program can bring.
Contact us for more details about how we can provide you with the clinical evidence that you need to make informed product decisions: Call: 804-318-0351 or email me personally at: James.Hadland@immersushealth.com
Better Outcomes Matter TM
