Alert system protects healthcare staff from violence
The Behavioral Wellness Center (BeWell) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania helps patients who struggle with drug and alcohol addiction and mental illness.
Healthcare workers are facing a rise in unprovoked attacks and violence, driving leadership to identify ways to protect staff. BeWell decided to search for a way to improve incident response and to deter the number of threats and assaults. The center, located in downtown Philadelphia, implemented a duress system from ROAR for Good to prevent workplace violence.
Emergency alerts reducing workplace violence
In a three-month pilot program, the wireless alert solution helped reduce onsite incidents by 39% year-over-year. An employee survey revealed that after the pilot, there was a 20% increase in satisfaction with workplace safety and a 28% increase in employees’ satisfaction with incident response.
“In order for our patients to feel supported and to find the road to recovery, our clinical professionals need to be at the top of their game – and that means feeling safe. This technology allows them to focus on the diagnosis and treatment of patients, and avoid worrying about safety concerns,” said BeWell Chief Financial Officer Doug Maier.
BeWell also measured workers’ compensation claims and realized a 24% reduction in staff-versus-patient incident claims after the implementation of the duress system.
“A reduction of incidents harming our staff and the survey results indicating increased employee satisfaction would have been justification enough to expand our deployment of the ROAR technology to our other facilities, but the savings in worker’s compensation claims helped make the financial case,” Maier added.
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