Reduce Falls and Operational Costs By Utilizing Expandable Low Beds

The reality of successfully navigating today’s long term care climate lies in reducing litigation costs and keeping your census up. It can seem like a daunting task, but with a few modifications to your existing fall prevention program, you can begin to realize significant cost savings.

Recent studies have shown that utilizing the right expandable low bed in your facility can help reduce the risk of falls and prevent a resident from falling out of bed, avoiding many potentially negative outcomes. These negative outcomes include the pain, suffering and disability that residents might experience and the large financial burden placed on the healthcare delivery system related to resident falls.¹

Residents’ high risk of falling and the frequent occurrence of falls in the long term care setting have been well documented. It has been estimated that 45% to 70% of residents fall each year, of whom 50% experience multiple falls.² Utilizing the right expandable low bed can provide many features that can contribute to reducing the risk of falls.

Wider surfaces

The latest beds on the market make it easy to transition the bed from a standard 36-inch wide bed to a 42-inch wide bed in just a matter of seconds with an optional integrated width extension. These wider surfaces make it easier to reposition residents in bed with a reduced risk of falls.

Greater travel range

Investing in a bed with the greatest travel range can significantly improve the safety of everyday activities, such as ingress and egress. Very few beds on the market have a travel range of 7 inches to 30 inches, but this can prove to be a substantial improvement over other beds available. This greater travel range makes it easy to position the bed in the best way to suit each individual resident’s needs.

Under-mount LED Lighting

Often times, even the most mobile residents have difficulty getting in and out of bed. An innovative solution to helping to reduce the number of falls is utilizing beds with under-mount LED lighting. With the click of a button, you and your residents can add this additional safeguard to allow you to see more clearly around the perimeter of the bed.

Let us show you how to decrease staff back pain by utilizing expandable low beds from Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare.

¹ http://www.iadvanceseniorcare.com/article/wide-beds-added-inches-added-safety
² http://www.managedhealthcareconnect.com/article/examining-bed-width-contributor-risk-falls-bed-long-term-care