The Patient Pod: The new weapon for caregivers battling hospital acquired infections

By Aimee Keenan-Greene and  editing by Sarah Heilman

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) kill 99,000 people a year. That's more than breast cancer, car accidents, and AIDS combined according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hospitals are facing growing pressure to hold down costs and cut infection rates. Starting July 1, 2011, as part of new healthcare measures, hospitals must show safety improvements and patient satisfaction or they could risk millions of dollars in Medicare reimbursements. 

Now, the first bedside amenity system designed to empower and recognize hospital patients as valued participants in their own care, and help prevent HAIs, is hitting the market.

"The Patient Pod™ is one of the greatest breakthroughs of the decade in patient health, " says Wayne Weiner, former Senior Consultant to the National Institutes of Health. 

"The revolutionary new patent-pending Patient Pod™ system helps guard against infection, brings your loved ones comfort and control, and greatly improves the patient experience through engagement," says Pat Mastors, Founder and CEO of Pear Health, LLC. She is the driving force behind this innovation in patient-centered care. "No longer will a hospital patient be unable to reach the hand sanitizer, or have to call a nurse to bring their cell phone, tissues, dentures, or hearing aids. There is now a safe, clean place to keep everything within arms reach for a patient."

"This is exactly the type of tool that can make a big difference. It is so spot-on that it could only have been created by a patient, " says Martha Hayward, Patient and Public Engagement Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Motivating Mastors is the loss of her father, Bob Stegeman. In 2006, Mr. Stegeman died of complications from a hospital-acquired infection. Mastors has made it her passion-project, diligently working towards the creation of The Patient Pod™, ever since. 

"My father was initially hospitalized for neck surgery. Just days after surgery, he suffered a ruptured colon from a virulent Clostridium difficile infection. He died six months later of sepsis from complications," said Mastors, a well-known former Rhode Island television news anchor at WJAR NBC-10 and WPRI-TV in Providence, where she worked prior to acting as her father's health advocate during his hospitalization. "It was life-changing for me to see such an independent, otherwise healthy man lose his mobility, dignity, and ultimately his battle with a preventable infection."

The Patient Pod ™ contains a 'portable on-demand' hand-hygiene infection deterrent system, including a custom TV remote control cover to protect you from the most bacteria-laden item in the patient’s room, a mobile message center, a display area for personal photo and name tag, pockets for personal items like cell phone and eyeglasses, safety tips, and more. Its patent-pending, self-leveling attachment clamps securely on the bed rail, walker, or wheelchair at any angle to travel with the patient throughout their entire hospital stay and rehabilitation.

Akron, Ohio-based GOJO Industries, inventors of PURELL® hand sanitizer, is partnering with The Patient Pod™. "We are committed to saving lives through hand hygiene wellness solutions," says David Mackay, Vice President of Healthcare at GOJO. "As a company that focuses on hand hygiene needs in healthcare settings and improving patient outcomes, we are pleased to be a part of The Patient Pod™. We believe the PURELL brand will be both familiar and comforting to patients. The Patient Pod™ is certainly aligned with our mission." 

"We believe satisfied patients will lead to more satisfied caregivers. We are determined to deliver new efficiencies and cost savings to hospitals. We conducted patient trials in six hospitals in four states. The results are in and I’m thrilled to say The Patient Pod™ does it all," says Mastors.

“I loved it! It never left my walker. I know exactly where it is right now. I put my cell phone, my pills, tissues, my wallet, my insurance card inside. I have used it every day since leaving the hospital. I would use it again in a heartbeat, " says patient Dick Jacobs of Scottsdale, Arizona.

In trials, 100% of caregivers surveyed say if hospitalized, they'd want The Patient Pod™ for themselves. Kent Hospital in Warwick, Rhode Island, one of 3 local hospitals included in The Patient Pod™ trials, is the first hospital in the nation to offer the Patient Pod as a complimentary service to elective surgical patients and will also feature The Patient Pod™ in their retail gift shop.

Pear Health, LLC is extending The Patient Pod™ sales through an alliance with Atlanta-based Healthcare Team Training (HTT), a national hospital consulting firm. HTT now features The Patient Pod™ in its Team STEPPS + Plus training. “We had been searching for a tangible product that embodies the patient-centered behaviors we teach in our Team STEPPS+ Plus program,” said Steve Powell, HTT CEO. "The Patient Pod helps hard-wire those behaviors, building toward true, lasting culture change." 

Mastors lobbied successfully for two RI state laws improving patient safety, and in 2010 was part of a select group of patient advocates invited by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to participate in the first-ever Leadership Summit for Patient Advocates. She serves on the HAI reporting advisory board to the RI Department of Health, and is a member of Consumers Union's Safe Patient Project.

According to the New York Times, The Food and Drug Administration has just approved a drug called Dificid to treat diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile, the nasty and persistent bacterium that, at least one study suggests, may have surpassed MRSA as the leading hospital acquired infection. 

Need another reason to clean your phone and tuck it safely away in The Patient Pod™? A recent report featured in Scientific American says more than three quarters of cell phones (already known to carry 18 times more bacteria than the average toilet handle) belonging to patients and visitors at a Turkish hospital were found to be carrying staph bacteria. One phone had the multidrug-resistant strain MRSA and five of the phones tested positive for E. coli, two of which had the drug-resistant type.

Deluxe, juvenile, and military versions of The Patient Pod™ are currently in production.

Visit the ThePatientPod.com to learn more, or to order The Patient Pod™ system. Follow The Patient Pod™ on Facebook

The author is in public relations and communications and is affiliated with the Pear Health Company.