Safe Patient Handling & Movement: Legislation, Accreditation, Quality, and Recognition

Over the last year, a noticeable shift has occurred in hospital administrations’ reasons for implementing safe patient handling and movement (SPHM) programs. While the ever-spiraling costs associated with workers’ compensation claims remains a major financial incentive for program adoption, it is the requirement to meet certain clinical outcomes at national and local levels that has become equally, if not more, important. This article looks at 4 drivers in the implementation of safe patient handling and movement: legislation, accreditation, the need to avoid unnecessary costs and maximize reimbursement, and the goals/standards required to achieve recognition in a particular program, such as that of the Magnet Recognition Program®. It provides the reader with a structure to make a case for the positive benefits of SPHM to their organizations’ legislative, accreditation and reimbursement goals.

Monaghan HM

Keywords: safe patient handling, legislation, accreditation, quality, clinical outcomes