Fall Prevention Program

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Benefits of our Fall Prevention/Balance Disorder Program

The benefits of this program are too numerous to list here, but a few of the highlights include:

It will add prestige to your facility by having a comprehensive, pro-active fall prevention program. This program will address the medical component of fall prevention. This is a very important but often underserved part of most fall prevention programs.

All testing is billed directly to any available insurance.

The residents are being helped in a dramatic way. They are allowed to be more mobile and have less fear of falling. This will improve their quality of life and can help to prolong their lives in a positive and productive way.

The incidence of caregiver injuries may be reduced due to the decreased incidence of falls among the residents. The increased need of caregiver interventions as a result of falls to the residents puts the caregivers at increased risk of injury. By reducing falls you will reduce caregiver exposure to possible injury related to these increased interventions.

The enrollment of residents into a medically necessary physical and occupational therapy program for vestibular rehabilitation may allow increased reimbursement to the nursing facility. Enrollment into a vestibular rehab program meets the NYS Dept. of Health standards for therapy that will increase ADLs and, thus, can increase daily reimbursement rates to the facility.

Why is Fall Prevention/Balance Disorder detection necessary

Complaints of dizziness and other balance problems are the most common reason for physician encounters in the elderly. In addition, the presence of a balance disorder dramatically increases a person's chances of falling, and potentially suffering a debilitating hip or other fracture.

In nursing facilities and hospitals, falls are the most frequently occurring accident. In fact, half of all reported falls occur in nursing facilities and hospitals.

Here are some additional facts that you might not know about balance disorders:

Vestibular disorders are responsible in over 50% of patients complaining of dizziness (Kroenke). Falls lead to over 200,000 hip fractures per year in the U.S. (Haupt Graves). Nearly 50% of elderly patients admitted for hip fractures die within one year (Rubenstein). Vestibular (balance) evaluations including the common balance tests (AEP ENG) are over 90% sensitive for brain and ear causes of dizziness. These include auditory nerve, brainstem, and cerebellar pathology (Hamid, Kumar). In patients with chronic balance problems, only vestibular rehabilitation has shown to improve balance function and performance when compared to medical therapy or general exercises (Horak). Therapy directed toward a specific diagnosis resulted in resolution of symptoms in 85% of patients, while general vestibular rehabilitation exercises resulted in complete resolution in 64% (Shepard & Telian).

How our program works:

  1. CVT will properly train your staff to identify "at risk" residents and assess their status for potential balance disorders. This includes the medical, nursing, and rehab staff.
  2. Once your staff has identified the residents with potential balance disorders, a convenient date will be set to have one of our trained technologists visit your facility. The technologist will conduct the necessary testing for your residents, at your facility.
  3. A comprehensive report detailing all test findings will be provided to your staff so that you may determine the necessary and effective treatment best suited to each of the residents.
  4. Our certified physical therapy staff will provide specialized rehabilitation training for your rehab staff. This will allow your staff to properly evaluate and perform specific techniques that will be most effective in dealing with specific conditions.
  5. Our expert staff will always be available for any additional consulting that may be necessary so that your staff can continue to provide this worthwhile service to your residents.

About the tests:

CVT will come to your facility to perform comprehensive vestibular testing to your residents. These tests are simple and will give your treating staff all the necessary information to determine the cause of each resident's balance disorder. This will also assist your staff in designing the best treatment regimen to deal with these conditions. The tests include Video Electronystagmography (VNG) and Otoacoustic Emission (OAE) testing.

OAE testing is very simple and easy. It takes just a minute or two and gives essential information about the possible existence of an acoustic neuroma, a very serious potential cause of balance disorders.

VNG is a computerized test that is non-invasive and takes about 30-45 minutes to perform. The test only requires the resident to follow very simple instructions such as following a beam of light or instructions turning their head side to side. Our expertly-trained physician assistants are qualified and experienced to fulfill all of the needs of your residents before, during, and after testing.

All of the test results will be interpreted by an expert team of otolaryngologists and neurologists, and a comprehensive test report will be provided to your facility.

Comprehensive Vestibular Testing
LLC 71 Swalm Street
Westbury, NY 11590
(516) 996-4979