Achieving Legislative and Regulatory Buy-In

Typical Presentation Script for Legislators or related stakeholder groups

The Healthcare Problem

• Healthcare injuries have truly become a global problem of pandemic proportions:
• More than one million working days are lost annually due to lifting injuries in the US alone.
• The caregiver injury phenomenon has been documented by extensive evidence-based research over the past several decades. 
• Most caregiver injuries are caused during the process of lifting or repositioning patients.

Although these statistics appear caregiver based, incidents affect both the patient and caregivers alike, and many times they affect both patient and caregiver within the same incident.  As a result, Injury Prevention has recently become a number one priority in hospitals and nursing homes, a top campaign of the ANA, the top initiative among OSHA, and an across-the-board project by insurance companies. 

The Impact of an Incident

            In order to understand the REAL magnitude of the problem, we urge you to look more closely at just some of the potential issues that impact a typical “incident.”

• Every lifting incident represents a potential lawsuit. 
• Every lifting incident represents potential bottom-line losses to the hospital or nursing home due to additional diagnostic costs and extra time under care
• Every lifting incident represents a potential lifetime worth of workers’ compensation costs
• Every lifting incident represents multiple days off due to sick leave, and possibly additional days of light duty
• Every lifting incident represents potential costs for replacement employees, recruitment costs and new employee training costs, plus increases in insurance rates
• Every lifting incident represents a potential lifetime of pain and suffering for an injured caregiver.

How Do We Fix the Problem?

There are three requirements for any healthcare injury prevention solution to become successful.  Simply having any two of these elements present in a facility does not guarantee success.  All three are needed.  The three elements are:

• Equipment
• Training
• Caregiver Participation or “Buy-In”

Whatever legislation is enacted to help reduce the number and severity of caregiver musculoskeletal injuries in the future, here are some thoughts to help guide you:

• Don’t assume that equipment alone will solve your problems, it won’t.
• Don’t assume that training alone will solve your problems, it won’t.
• Don’t assume that directives alone will solve your problems, they won’t.  

Please consider incorporating all three of these requirements into the mix in order to ensure an innovative, well-thought-out approach to caregiver injury prevention.