Advertisement
The State of Hawaii Hawai'i Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund(EUTF), the Health and Welfare Trust Fund of the Teamsters, Hotel andRestaurant Employees Local 5, Carpenters, Laborers, ILWU Hotel Workers, andUnited Food and Commercial Workers, have chosen to make the LifeBed(TM)Patient Vigilance System (LifeBed) available to their collective member groupsstatewide. Traditionally, healthcare payors have made these decisionssurrounding benefit coverage -- and plan members must live with thosedecisions with little other choice.
Advertisement
Nearly 40 percent of all unexpected hospital deaths occur on the med-surgfloor, resulting in a surge of interest in early recognition and patientsafety. With healthcare costs at unprecedented levels and rising each year,the union health and welfare trust funds have taken a major step towardimproving patient safety by directing their third party insurance payors toreimburse LifeBed costs for their members. Hoana Medical's LifeBed Systemidentifies patients as they begin to deteriorate and immediately notifies thehospital nursing staff -- all invisible to the patient since there is nophysical connection to the patient whatsoever.
Now, the LifeBed's 24-hour continuous vigilance of patients is a paidbenefit for all union members, their dependents and retirees. This means thatmore than 230,000 people will have access to cutting edge, state-of-the-arttechnology while in the hospital -- all paid for by the union health andwelfare trust funds, reimbursing hospitals at $18 per day per bed. Thisimproves the quality of patient care while reducing the costs to the unionsand their members and dependents -- providing a substantialreturn-on-investment. It's this type of disruptive approach, coupled with newtechnology that will ultimately solve the nation's perplexing healthcareissues. For Hawai'i, this represents nearly 30 percent of the state's currentworkforce and showcases the unions' commitment to partner with technologyproviders and with hospitals in the growing need for improved patient safetyand quality in healthcare, which ultimately reduces costs.
According to the HealthGrades(1) 2006 Report, the State of Hawai'i rankedlast in a nationwide survey of patient safety incidents. Patients admitted tohospitals in Hawai'i are more likely to die from a patient safety event thananywhere else in the United States. Hawaiian hospitals were rated the lowestperformers in two key mortality indicators including "failure to rescue" and"death in low-mortality DRGs."
"This looks like an emerging trend in healthcare; we are beginning similarconversations around the rest of the U.S. We hear so much about the problemswith healthcare and the unanswered rhetoric question 'how can we fixhealthcare?' These unions have decided to be part of the solution -- theirdecision to provide the LifeBed technology as a paid benefit is part of a muchbigger issue. They are taking responsibility to address this problem fortheir members, rather than wait for 'someone to fix the problem.' It clearlyspotlights their commitment to their members," said Dr. Patrick Sullivan,pre
