Pilot Study Demonstrates Institutional Use of SIM™ Platform Technology Is Associated With Greater Than 90 Percent Reduction in Falls
SYDNEY, Australia and ATLANTA, Sept. 21, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Simavita (ASX:SVA) (TSXV:SV), developer of the Smart Incontinence Management (SIM™) medical device, the world's first wearable integrated digital technology solution for continence care assessment and management, is pleased to recognize the National Fall Prevention Awareness Week 2015 by making its first U.S. pilot study available for healthcare providers at www.simavita.com.
The association between incontinence and falls in people over the age of 70 has been widely established in the scientific literature. Results from a large retrospective study confirmed the correlation between incontinence and falls for people over the age of 70 and demonstrated that a higher degree of incontinence is associated with a higher risk of falls.i Research also indicates that up to 50 percent of all falls in long term care facilities are incontinence-related.ii
The pilot study, conducted at Lorien Health Systems' Lorien Bel Air, a senior rehabilitation facility located near Baltimore, evaluated one patient with a history of falls, most suffered in attempts to reach the bathroom. The patient sustained 17 falls in 2011 and 16 falls in 2012. Following the introduction of SIM™ to this patient's toileting plan in June 2014, she has seen a dramatic reduction falls, with only one incident reported in 2015.
"The reduction in falls that we've seen among residents that have been prescribed a care plan integrating SIM is remarkable. In just three days, SIM gives us an accurate and actionable continence management plan tailored to the specific physiological needs of each patient," said Cheryl Bayne, RN, director of nursing at Lorien Bel Air. "If we can decrease someone's falls from five in a month to zero, the savings are huge. One x-ray costs $120. Then there is the cost of skin tear and skin wound products. At a minimum, the cost of a single fall is $320, and this does not include sutures, if needed, or hospital admission in the case of a fracture."
In 2013, the total direct medical costs of fall injuries for people 65 and older, adjusted for inflation, was $34 billion.iii Among community-dwelling older adults, fall-related injury is one of the 20 most expensive medical conditions.iv
SIM™ is the world's first fully-instrumented incontinence tool that detects multiple incontinent episodes through a sensor embedded into an adult incontinence pad. The SIM™ sensor is a single use disposable device that connects to a durable transceiver that records and wirelessly transmits incontinence data to a server for storage and processing. The data collected is synchronized with incontinence related observations recorded by staff via an application displayed on a tablet or phone and can be used by the clinician to develop an evidence-based toileting plan to comply with the CMS MDS 3.0 Guidelines related to caring for residents with incontinence. The manual was designed for implementing standardized assessment of urinary and bowel continence and the interventions used to manage incontinence.
"The expansion of the wearable technology category and the increasing age of the population has created an environment that is highly receptive to SIM, and we have been rapidly bolstering our presence among major centers in the United States and Canada," said Philippa Lewis, CEO, Simavita. "In addition to the significant potential cost savings and patient health benefits, this technology is also helping provide dignity for patients, which is critical for the common and widely stigmatized condition of incontinence."
About Simavita
Simavita is a digital healthcare company that has developed an innovative software platform. The first application for the platform is a world first solution for the management of urinary incontinence, with a focus on the elderly. This platform technology is an instrumented incontinence assessment application that provides evidence-based incontinence management care plans to the residential aged care market.
About SIM™
SIM™ is a wireless sensor technology that delivers evidence-based instrument incontinence data on individuals. SIM™ provides user friendly tools and software to assess the incontinence condition and to help plan better outcomes. SIM™ is used to detect, record and report incontinence events during a compulsory or recommended assessment period in residential aged care facilities to develop an evidence-based incontinence care plan.
Conducting assessments is mandatory in many countries and the incontinence assessment creates an influential element of care of each individual. For more information on Simavita or SIM™, please visit www.simavita.com.
i Available at: http://reference.medscape.com/medline/abstract/21948857. Accessed September 2, 2015.
ii Available at: http://www.seekwellness.com/incontinence/fall_risk.htm. Accessed September 18, 2015.
iii Stevens JA, Corso PS, Finkelstein EA, Miller TR. The costs of fatal and nonfatal falls among older adults. Injury Prevention 2006a;12:290–5.
iv Carroll NV, Slattum PW, Cox FM. The cost of falls among the community-dwelling elderly. Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy. 2005;11(4):307-16