No other preventable hospital complication occurs as frequently as pressure ulcers. In fact, patients who experience pressure ulcers are more likely to die during their hospital stay and are more likely to be readmitted to the hospital after discharge.
While there are currently hundreds of products on the market to address pressure ulcers, the solution needs to be comprehensive—similar to the change in the standards of hospital hygiene more than 100 years ago.
Healthcare systems currently spend billions of dollars attempting to prevent pressure ulcers, but little attention is paid to the items with which patients have the most contact: hospital bed linens.
DermaTherapy bedding technology was specifically developed to create a new generation of healthcare bedding that reduces the overall occurrence of pressure ulcers. Its silk-like fibers help regulate the patient’s “microclimate”: a combination of heat, moisture, pressure, friction and shear. Conventional hospital bedding often generates excessive moisture, friction and shear, while generating lint and airborne particles—all potentially hazardous to patients.
DermaTherapy has already been used extensively in clinical trials throughout the country, and the results are highly encouraging. One large Midwestern university medical center saved $1.5 million and reduced patients’ length of stay, due in large part to a reduction of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers.
“Our system-wide conversion to DermaTherapy bedding has dramatically improved the quality of care for our Cone Health patients and delivered significant savings for our healthcare system from the reduction of pressure ulcers,” said Annette Osborne MSN, RN, NEA-BC, VP of Nursing and Patient Services at Cone Health, Greensboro, NC.
Standard Textile is working to introduce its product to as many hospitals and care facilities as possible. The recent FDA clearance will add momentum to this effort, while making the American public aware of a potentially life-saving device they might have never considered.
Standard Textile
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