Tampere City Saves Half A Million Euros - HUR SmartGym makes future rehabilitation processes more efficient
Tammenlehvä Centre was founded in Tampere in 1988 and has grown to become one of Finland's leading rehabilitation centres. The majority of rehabilitation clients are residents of Tampere who require specialised post-acute care. Outpatient services are utilised by clients from municipalities, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), insurance companies, and organisations across the country.
Tammenlehvä Centre leads the way with intelligent HUR gyms
After a two-month rehabilitation and strength training programme at Tammenlehvä Centre, Eira Vesikko, with the support of a walker, stood up and began walking with the goal of returning home from the rehabilitation centre. Tammenlehvä Centre provides two HUR SmartGyms for patients like Eira. The first gym was installed in 2016 and the second in 2019. Currently, up to 350 patients visit the two HUR gyms each week, and over 50 groups happily use the strength equipment, which operates by air pressure resistance. The air pressure resistance makes the machines ideal for rehabilitation, as the movement is gentle, natural, and safe for muscles and joints.
"If we didn't have these gyms and had to rely on bodyweight exercises and basic movements on the wards, we wouldn't be able to achieve the same results with our clients as we do with progressive gym training. Strengthening muscle power and improving balance are significant parts of our work," explains physiotherapist Tuula Holappa.
Tampere City significantly reduces costs
As a collaboration between the City of Tampere and Tammenlehvä Centre, a pilot programme was conducted to streamline care pathways and shorten treatment cycles. The pilot took place from November 1, 2021, to April 30, 2022, and Tampere has already achieved promising results in enhancing the efficiency of rehabilitation periods for the elderly through an incentive model.
Typically, rehabilitation periods for older adults are lengthy, averaging around 30 days. Prior to that, individuals usually spend a week or two in a university hospital, resulting in a treatment period of well over a month. Access to rehabilitation is often subject to waiting times, and there can be idle days during the rehabilitation period while waiting for arrangements, such as home care, to be organised.
During the six-month trial, the average length of stay fell from 31.5 days to 28.1 days, or 3.4 days. This means that more than three days of unnecessary waiting time were cut from a rehabilitation period of around one month. This led to estimated savings of nearly half a million euros for the City of Tampere within six months, and an incentive bonus of 57,000 euros was paid to the service provider for 200 employees.
"If arrangements for home care are initiated at the beginning of the treatment period, the patient can progress through the care chain more quickly. When the length of treatment for one client is shorter, more clients can be treated," explains Sanna Määttänen, the Chief Medical Officer of the City of Tampere.
The pilot programme was successful, and the Tampere City Council for Social Affairs and Health has decided to continue the experiment from May 1 to December 31, 2022, to accumulate experience over an entire calendar year.
Reference (in finnish language)
– Kati Kalliosaari, 2022, ”Uusi malli toi puolen miljoonan säästöt Tampereen kaupungille ja ison palkkion 200 työntekijälle – Näin ikääntyneiden kuntoutuksesta pääsee nopeammin kotiin”, Aamulehti 6.9.2022.
Article link: https://www.aamulehti.fi/tampere/art-2000009034374.html?share=7d567ee199dd0618d3bbcbc50ab487a2.
