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Falling for prevention

Falling for prevention

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, or so the old saying goes. Unfortunately, when it comes to healthcare dollars, money often gets spent on the more-costly cure.

That needs to change, says Brian Pavlin.

“I think that the way that health care moves forward, we are going to want to prevent readmissions,” he said. “We need to focus on things that cause readmissions, whether it's drug interactions or something else.”

HME providers are uniquely placed to help patients before something goes wrong—even in nursing homes.

“Some of the homes I go into, I can show you five patients ready to fall out of their chairs,” said Pavlin. “There's nothing that allows for proper positioning so they are on the edge of the chair. We can prevent that through less expensive products.”

Less expensive is key thanks to ever-shrinking reimbursement.

“We used to get $10 to $15 dollars a day for a $1,200 air mattress,” said Pavlin. “That was great money. Now we are getting $3 or $4.”

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