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AvaSys Helps Nation's Top Hospitals Prevent Patient Falls, Reduce Costs
[August 28, 2014]

AvaSys Helps Nation's Top Hospitals Prevent Patient Falls, Reduce Costs


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. --(Business Wire)--

AvaSure's AvaSys TeleSitter Solution, the fastest-growing technology for preventing patient falls, has been rolled out in recent weeks in a number of the nation's most prestigious and safety-conscious hospitals and systems, including Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, Inova (News - Alert) Health System in Virginia, HCA St. David's Healthcare in Texas, Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis and University of California Health.

Across the U.S., AvaSys systems have been in use within most of the nation's largest health systems, including facilities owned by St. Louis-based Ascension Health; Cincinnati-based Mercy Health; San Francisco-based Dignity Health; Kettering (Ohio) Health Network; Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare; Novi, Mich.-based Trinity Health; Iowa-based UnityPoint Health; and Milwaukee-based Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare.

AvaSys is a remote patient observation and communications platform that enables both visual and audio monitoring of patients at risk of self-harm, including falls, removal of life-saving devices and other injuries. It allows a single caregiver to keep track of as many as 15 patients at once from a central monitoring station. These trained observers can vocally intervene with patients - while simultaneously summoning a nurse - long enough to avert harm.

After decades of struggling with the problem of how to reduce falls - which are classified as non-reimbursable "never events" by federal and state governments - AvaSys adopters are in many cases going months without a single fall. Studies show that nationally as many as 15% of patients fall at least once during their hospital stay, with nearly a third of them sustaining seious injuries.



Hospitals also spend millions of dollars annually to place human sitters in patient rooms, with only limited effect on fall rates.

"Patient safety is a top priority at Memorial Hermann," said the system's Chief Quality Officer, Angela Shippy, MD. "This new system emphasizes our commitment to quality and safety for our patients, all while providing the highest possible care and using innovative technology to redirect patients before a fall occurs."


At Memorial Hermann, AvaSys mobile systems are now being placed in the rooms of high-risk patients at the Texas Medical Center and TIRR (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research). Texas Medical Center is the largest medical complex in the world, with 7,000 beds and 7.2 million annual patient visits. TIRR was ranked No. 3 on U.S. News and World Report's ranking of the best rehab hospitals. For years, Memorial Hermann has been committed to a goal of zero patient errors through its From the Board to the Bedside Initiative. In 2012 Memorial Hermann was awarded the Eisenberg Patient Safety Award by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and The Joint Commission.

"This new technology does not replace any of the current safety measures we use; it simply enhances these efforts and is another tool we can use to care for our patients," said Shippy. "The feedback we have already heard from patients and family members is very positive. Families feel more secure and at ease knowing someone is continuously looking after their loved ones when they are most vulnerable."

AvaSys is the only company to provide mobile audio-visual observation units, which can simply be wheeled into a room and turned on, giving nurses instant room coverage. It also provides permanent in-room solutions, which are being used by many hospitals for behavioral health patients. Hospitals are also turning to AvaSys for staff education and training, validation of call light requests and other uses.

"I have been around healthcare for decades, and AvaSys is one of those rare new technologies that has an immediate and clear effect on solving a previously intractable healthcare problem," says Cathy Rick, RN, an AvaSure adviser and the immediate past Chief Nursing Officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she oversaw more than 80,000 nursing personnel. "Everyone struggles with patient falls, so it is not surprising that these top care providers are looking to AvaSys."

About AvaSure

AvaSure is a division of AvaSure Holdings, Inc., that develops, markets and deploys technology and educational tools that support the nursing profession in improving its practice environment. It builds, installs, distributes and supports the AvaSys TeleSitter Solution, an advanced patient observation and communications platform that allows a nurse to remotely monitor multiple patients in diverse locations, anticipate their needs, identify risky situations and alert floor staff in time to avert injuries. For more information, visit www.avasure.com.


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