From the January/February 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


Additionally, compliance with the two-hour turn schedule (the average time it takes for a nurse to complete a round) increased by 35 percent during the course of the study. Hanson says the study also adds to the body of knowledge, which is helping validate the standard two-hour turn schedule for patients who are at risk of developing pressure ulcers. In the past, an every two hour turn schedule wasn’t based on clinical evidence, but because it took two hours to do a round. Research is ongoing to identify optimal turn scheduling based on risk, surface, and other factors.

“The standard has been around in the medical community, but no one has been able to prove it because the technology wasn’t there,” Hanson says. Hanson says during the next study, they may look at whether two and a half or three hours is possible, “so patients can get enough rest and sleep.”


The Smart Bed Technology also detects presence in the bed, as well as trends in heart and respiration rate, using a touch-free sensor located under the mattress. This can identify if a patient is getting out of bed in the middle of the night, help assessments of length of time in bed, and provide data on heart rate or respiration rate trends. Changes in all these factors can provide objective data on depression, medication effects, stress, or even infection.

“What we do now is provide out-of-the box metrics reports and trends and support those quality initiatives that are coming from CMS and those other organizations,” Hanson says. “That has been an important topic for our customer base.”

The bariatric market expands
The bariatric segment remains one of the fastest growing segments of the hospital bed market. Jeff Ambrose, president of hospital bed distributer DiaMedical USA, says he’s been getting more and more inquiries even from smaller hospitals, which are seeing the need to offer bariatric options.

Ambrose says he often recommends the Burke Triflex II, a true bariatric bed with a 1,000-pound capacity, which he sells for $7,800 to $8,500. While some hospitals may make a choice between new or reconditioned standard beds, because of the demand, it’s nearly impossible to find reconditioned bariatric beds. “People need them,” Ambrose says. “It’s a new area of health care that hasn’t seen turnover yet.”

Patient mobility and fall reduction
Beds that turn into chairs, to help with patient mobility, are also seeing a high demand, as are low beds. In fact, in January, Stryker announced that it was acquiring Canadian company CHG Hospital Beds, which specializes in low-height hospital beds and related accessories, specially designed to reduce the risk of patient falls. The company also recently launched its Spirit One bed, an expandable low-height bariatric bed for the acute care market.

January/February 2015 Magazine

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