• Skin care protocols and monitoring: Digital platforms enforce rigorous skin care protocols, tracking adherence to specialized routines. Automated reminders facilitate the regular use of cleansers and moisturizers to help maintain skin integrity and prevent pressure injuries. This allows caregivers to closely monitor patients’ skin health and adjust care protocols as needed.
• AI-based nutritional support: AI-driven analysis assesses patients' nutritional status, detecting malnutrition early and allowing registered dietitians to design customized nutrition plans. Proper nutrition is critical to maintaining healthy skin and preventing pressure injuries and AI analysis helps ensure patients receive personalized care.
• Smart positioning and support surfaces: Intelligent tools dynamically adjust patient positioning according to specific needs, helping prevent pressure injuries by reducing strain and ensuring optimal patient positioning. These tools can adjust pressure distribution across support surfaces, reducing the likelihood of developing pressure injuries.


The role of leadership in implementing tech solutions for safety
Strong leadership in healthcare organizations is crucial for adopting advanced solutions, whether in the acute care environment or HaH settings. By implementing detailed nursing protocols that emphasize high reliability, leaders can ensure healthcare staff are adequately trained to use these technologies.

Continuous evaluation of patient outcomes and adherence to established procedures are vital for improving healthcare quality and maintaining the effectiveness of patient safety initiatives. Leaders should emphasize ongoing training, performance reviews and the adaptation of protocols to integrate the latest technology for fall and pressure injury prevention.

Embracing tech-enabled tools in the Hospital at Home (HaH) setting is essential to reducing the risks of falls and pressure injuries. The FDA’s initiative highlights the need for innovative healthcare safety solutions that tackle these challenges in in-home care environments.

By integrating intelligent sensors, wearable devices, virtual reality training and digital health monitoring systems, HaH can offer comprehensive, high-quality care that elevates patient safety and outcomes.

About the author: Dr. Amy Hester, PhD, RN, BC, FAAN, is the chairwoman and CEO of HD Nursing. Amy has 25 years of nursing experience including over a decade of med/surge and neuro nursing followed by unit management and hospital administration. In 2015, she earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Science and has since published and spoken extensively on the subject of falls and injury prediction and prevention. She retired from UAMS in 2018 after 26 years of service to dedicate her time fully to HD Nursing. She is adjunct faculty at UAMS College of Nursing. As an entrepreneur, she mentors others to help them with their own endeavors. Amy also serves as the Chair of the HD Nursing Board of Directors.


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