West Virginia University Hospitals, Inc. - Arjo MOVE® Program

Even with a longstanding legacy of providing quality care, the organization recognized a need for support — both in protecting its patients and employees from injury and protecting itself from injury-related costs. Citing its demonstrated results and broad range of support solutions, West Virginia University (WVU) Medicine chose Arjo MOVE. Together, they have reduced injuries and costs throughout the system and created a sustainable culture around safe patient handling.”

“Our MOVE Clinical Consultant was so knowledgeable & able to impart that knowledge easily to others. Her recommendations were on point with meeting our needs & were beneficial in leading us to a successful safe patient handling program”.

“Through the use of a metric guided approach that followed right & just culture principles, WVU achieved stellar results.”

“We look forward to a continued relationship with Arjo and partnering with them on future projects related to pressure injury reduction & falls prevention.”

Lana J. Bunner, RN, BSN, CHSP, CHSN
Department of Safety Management, West Virginia University Hospitals, Inc.

The challenge

Between 2008-2014, we experienced an average of 41 patient handling injuries per year with an annual average worker’s compensation cost of $300,000. Per OSHA Cost Calculator, these events are a direct cost of $31,255 per injury for a facility.¹ These injuries were caused by manually lifting and repositioning patients while using no mechanical devices.

The approach

LIFT (Living Injury Free Together), a Safe Patient Mobility Core Team, was formed to address the increase in patient handling injuries & associated worker’s compensation costs. The team, who still continues to meet every two months, is comprised of members from Safety Management, Nursing, Physical Therapy, Patient Transport, Radiology and Security. The goal of this team was to reposition and mobilize patients safely and early to improve patient outcomes and reduce caregiver injuries through the implementation of mechanical and other assistive devices. The team set out to create a policy that would ensure safe patient handling systemwide through process, continuity and accountability.

Why Arjo?

WVU Medicine chose Arjo because they provide a thorough program that includes process mapping, durable and effective equipment, education, on-site training and the provision of a MOVE Clinical Consultant who provides monthly on-site support over 36 months and is available 24/7.

Program design

The Arjo team deployed throughout our facility for process mapping and we jointly refined key performance indicators for a successful program. The MOVE Clinical Consultants initiated peer-to-peer training through General Staff Training (GST) a two hour training class where all job titles that have responsibility to mobilize or transfer patients in any capacity were mandatory to complete a four hour Transfer Mobility Coach™ (TMC) class for employees who were chosen to be “Super Users” of the program, and an hour Lateral Transfer class for the Operating Room. Once the training was 80% complete within any unit, that unit could begin using the equipment. Ongoing training for new-hire employees consisted of a computer-based learning module followed by validation at their unit by their TMC.

Throughout training to the initiation of our program, the MOVE Clinical Consultant remained in weekly contact with the Program Champion visiting monthly. Our staff valued the MOVE Clinical Consultant as she was knowledgeable and able to impart that knowledge easily to others. She was viewed as a true partner as her recommendations were aligned to addressing our needs and she was able to lead us to a successful safe patient handling program.

Results

Through the use of a metric guided approach that followed right and just culture principles, WVU achieved stellar results. During the first three years of active partnership with the Arjo MOVE program, we achieved the following results:

59% reduction of staff injuries associated with patient handling events

55% reduction in lost time days

71% reduction in restricted time days

WVU’s program was built with a strong foundation that proved to successfully and sustainably shift their culture around safe patient handling. The total reductions continued beyond the completion of the 36 month Arjo MOVE program, currently sustaining great results 6 years and counting:

51% reduction of staff injuries associated with patient handling events

25% reduction in lost time days

78% reduction in restricted time days

Discussion

Of note, WVU was able to achieve these results amidst major organizational change. The hospital increased the number of clinically focused employees with patient handling responsibilities from 1,061 to 2,684 representing a 60% increase, as well as increased the number of active hospital beds by 250. Despite the increase in beds and staff, the team attained a compelling injury reduction.

Over the course of one year, post Arjo MOVE program completion, WVU began to experience the number of patient handling injuries rising. Total patient handling injuries went from 31 to 41 the following year. We discovered that many of the TMCs had left the hospital system or changed jobs, and therefore the staff were not able to be validated to use the equipment. We were able hire and have our MOVE Clinical Consultant train two employees to be instructors (Clinical Safety Education Specialists). These Clinical Safety Education Specialists retrained the staff throughout the system on both GST and TMC training. A checklist was also created for our electronic medical record that the nurses use to document the mobility level of their patient and identify any needed mobility equipment. The checklist is named LIFT Screening Tool and is performed by RNs or LPNs upon admission, every 12 hours and with status change. The unit staff perform audits on the LIFT Screening Tool quarterly and submit those results to the Safe Patient Mobility Core Team. From this initiative, we saw the number of patient handling injuries decline to 32 the following year and have remained low since then.

Continuous improvement

All patient handling injuries are investigated by the Safe Patient Mobility Core Team Champion and are determined to be preventable or non-preventable. Following the investigation, repeat training may be recommended. Our challenges to safe patient handling are mostly due to staff non-compliance with following the LIFT Screening Tool.

In 2021, Arjo performed a Post Impact Analysis of our Safe Patient Handling Program. The findings suggest that our program is sustainable due to the following reasons: Dedicated program champion, Dedicated (2) Mobility Specialists for new hire, TMC and ongoing training, Transporters lead by example, Nursing has taken ownership of mobility, policy, focused on early out of bed to include intubated patients, lifts are accessible, patient handling injury investigation, and lift screening audits.

The future

We look forward to a continued relationship with Arjo MOVE and partnering with them on future projects related to pressure injury reduction and falls prevention.

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Rooted in clinical evidence and driven by your facility data, Arjo Move supports you to deliver high quality care that facilitates patient and resident mobility, resulting in improvements in clinical outcomes, staff well-being, operational efficiency, and financial optimization.

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If you're interested in learning more about our Caregiver Injury Reduction, Pressure injury Prevention and/or our Falls Programs, we would be happy to support you with guaranteed results.

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*Our guarantees are benchmarked by average projections. Facility must meet eligibility requirements as outlined in the Arjo Inc. MOVE agreement.

Reference:

1. United States Department of Labor 2015-2017. “OSHA’s $afety Pays Program/Estimated Costs of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (Sprains & Strains) and Estimated Impact on a Company’s Profitability Worksheet”. https://www.osha.gov/safetypays/estimator.