Designing Safer Care: One Touchpoint at a Time

By Guy Fragala, PhD, PE, CSP, CSPHP and the Midmark Medical Marketing Team

November 27, 2018

With every touchpoint and every interaction, we want patients and care teams to have the right technology at the right time in the right place. But how do we determine what’s “right?” Is it safe? Does it improve care? Is it what our customers need?

Working together with industry experts like Guy Fragala, PhD, PE, CSP, CSPHP, a leading ergonomist and researcher in safe patient handling for more than 45 years, Midmark is able to marry our expertise gained from in-the-field, customer-collaboration work with academic, research-based knowledge.

One area of focus for our collaboration has been improving safety by reducing patient and caregiver exertion in the exam room. As patient populations become older and more obese, and as a result face more mobility challenges, more patients need help accessing exam chairs for a proper, thorough exam. Traditional fixed-height exam tables are inaccessible to these patients, requiring either the caregiver to assist in lifting the patient onto the table (potentially injuring one or both parties) or examining the patient in a side chair or wheelchair – and likely compromising the quality of the care provided.

These efforts are detailed in two infographics: Safer Patients, Better Care and Breaking No Backs: Reducing Caregiver Injury Risks. As Dr. Fragala explains, “The exam [chair] is the central and most important furnishing in the ambulatory care clinic. This research demonstrates that using height-adjustable, accessible exam [chairs] can improve the environment of care by significantly reducing occupational risk to caregivers while improving quality of care for patients.”

As you’ll see in both materials, the right technology and equipment at the point of care plays a big role in delivering a great, safe experience for both patients and caregivers.