Nurse Call Systems: A Solution for Managing Emergency Situations
Nurse call systems are developed to alert nurses in case of a medical emergency or need for care. These systems are intended for patient-to-nurse communication. On pressing the alert button, a call light and an alert tone are initiated at the nurse's desk. These systems are also used to track a patient, particularly in assisted living or old age centers, or are used to designate an event, in case of ambulatory services. These systems reduce the response time by nurses and doctors, leading to a productive workflow.
As per the data obtained by the National Center for Assisted Living in 2000, ~71% of the people were women and 29% were men living in assisted living centers. Also, it stated that nearly 11% of these people were aged 65–74 and 7% were less than 65 years; also, majority of people were reported to be aged 85+, thereby holding ~52% of the total strength of people residing in assisted living centers. It is also noted that nearly 30% among the persons aged 75–84 years.
The lower and middle-income people opt for Medicaid to meet the cost of services. Among the people living in assisted living centers, nearly 15% of the people rely on Medicaid coverage. Thus, the growing number of assisted living centers for the geriatric population has propelled the demand for nurse call systems across the globe.
Assisted living centers or assisted living communities generally serve people who require help for their daily activities. The centers or communities are a combination of independence, companionship, privacy, as well as have security and premises that resemble homes. The rise in Alzheimer's disease is leading to the growth of assisted living care, and there are ~289,000 assisted living centers owning ~1 million licensed beds in the US. The average number of permitted beds in an assisted living center is 33.
Challenges in Installation of Nurse Call Systems:
Nurse call systems are essential tools in hospitals. Wireless nurse call systems with webserver are designed, developed, and implemented to help patients communicate with health care personnel in hospitals.
The price of the installation of a nurse call system in a standard room, patient room, ranges from US$ 2,500 to US$ 4,250. The installation price includes nurse call system implementation charges. The price of the installation of these systems in an enhanced room, emergency care room, ranges from US$ 3,500 to US$ 6,000. However, the costs for the fully integrated room, ICU, ranges from US$ 6,000 to US$ 10,000. Thus, the higher costs of the nurse call system and its installation charges are expected to limit the growth of the nurse call system market across the world.
Geographic Analysis:
The US witnesses rising prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, thereby leading to the growing demand for nurse call systems in the country. The presence of several market players, such as West-Com Nurse Call System, Inc., Amplion, Cornell Communications, and Tyco SimplexGrinnell, help in meeting customer demands. Furthermore, the Alzheimer Society Canada initiated the Canadian Charter of Rights for people living with dementia.
Conclusion:
Recent technological advancements across the world for the development of additional features in nurse call systems will help in addressing emergencies. This progression is likely to improve the current features and also enables the collection of the data. Thus, research activities are expected to provide an impetus for the growth of nurse call system installations in the coming years.
Source: The Insight Partners