Tampa, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2012 -- Proper product utilization is crucial to lessening pressure ulcers. In the hospital and long-term care setting, it is important for medical professionals to address what is not only clinically efficacious but also reasonably priced. According to McKnight’s Long Term Care News, more than 2.5 million people develop pressure ulcers annually and approximately 60,000 die from complications due to them.
“Proper therapeutic surfaces must be implemented early on when a patient is immobile,” said Greg Grambor, president of Vascular PRN. “The latest products offer comfort, odor control, and can give the facility substantial cost savings.”
Vascular PRN recently added in the Skin IQ™ mattress coverlet – a totally new class of therapeutic surface – that gives similar results as a Low Air Loss bed but for a small percentage of the cost. For example, the Skin IQ has an in use cost of about $4.15 a day whereas a LAL bed averages about $30 a day to rent. Facilities that own LAL beds rather than rent them achieve savings on a similar scale when they replace the LAL beds with Skin IQ as those beds reach the end of their useful life.
“Using expensive therapeutic surfaces doesn’t make much sense when facilities are trying to weather the economic downturn and Medicare/Medicaid cutbacks,” said Grambor. “Especially when a Negative Airflow surface like the Skin IQ can give similar clinical results and notable savings.”
Patients who have hyperhidrosis, incontinence, already have pressure ulcers, or are at high risk of developing them are perfect candidates to use the Skin IQ. The mattress coverlet provides powerful pressure ulcer treatment because it pulls air down through the mattress, cools a patient’s contact points, and wicks away moisture. It is used on a simple pressure redistribution mattress that the facility already has on hand, and is good for 60 days of single patient use.
“Not only does it lower costs overall, but this helps to prevent new decubitus ulcers from appearing and becoming part of a facility’s non-reimbursable, never events,” said Grambor.
Best practices to increase positive outcomes for patients also include assessments on admission, on a weekly basis, and as a patient or resident’s mobility changes. Risk scales, turning schedules, and nutritional reviews also play a part in pressure ulcer prevention.
To learn more about the Skin IQ or Vascular PRN’s other products for sale or rent such as SCD boots, lymphedema pumps, and sequential compression devices, visit http://www.vascularprn.com/ or call 800.886.4331. Vascular PRN has been helping surgery centers and hospitals, nursing homes, managed care organizations, and other institutions for decades throughout the United States.