Continence Management

Continence care is everyone’s business.

It is the business of the provider to provide the proper care for their patients and to minimize the myriad issues that can arise if incontinence is not managed properly.

It is the business of patients and their families, as they try to cope with the issue while at the same time desiring dignity for themselves or their loved one.

It is also an expensive business. The cost-effectiveness of care is a critical issue in today’s health care environment; as the health care dollar continues to shrink, the demand for interventions that produce the best outcomes for the least cost continues to escalate. That is why Medline has made it our business to offer tools and education to our partners to help them reduce costs and provide a high-quality, dignified patient experience.

The Costs of Incontinence

Incontinence presents a significant financial burden to the individual and to society. In the United States, the cost of bladder incontinence among adults in 1995 was estimated at $16.3 billion.¹

A majority (50%–75%) of the costs are attributed to resources used for incontinence management or ‘‘routine care’’ such as absorbent pads, protection, and laundry.²

To meet the needs of the incontinent individual today and in the future, you must provide evidence-based care, document your costs and your outcomes, collaborate with legislators, regulators, and other professionals to assure appropriate coverage for care, and contribute to research.

Incontinence Facts

Is Your Team Prepared?

Your caregivers likely spend much of their day managing incontinence. Between purchasing products and paying caregivers, continence management can be one of the largest expenditures in your facility. It is time to ask yourself:

Do your caregivers understand incontinence?
Do they closely monitor their incontinent residents for skin breakdown?
Do they apply appropriate, correctly-sized products?
Have they taken part in a rigorous, standardized training program?
Do they have access to reporting and analytics and experts to help them understand the data?

Without the quality education and tools your caregivers need, as well as the data to track success, how do you know you’re providing the care your patients expect?

Medline's Continence Management Program

We understand that the long-term care system is a very large, complex configuration of services and that you face extraordinary challenges every day. The most common response to these challenges has been education and staff development, which have been viewed as ways to improve the confidence and competence of those working in long-term care. With growing numbers of residents per CNA, lower payments and evolving regulatory standards, you may find it difficult to meet the educational standards you have been striving for.

If you have already tried to implement a continence management program on your own and failed, you may be asking yourself, "Where did we go wrong? Why do we continue to have issues?" You are not alone. Many facilities try to implement continence management programs only to be left with more questions than answers.

What you need is a continence management program that is easy to implement and a partner to help you and your staff work through the challenges that come with managing incontinence.

1 Wilson L, Brown J, Park G, et al: Annual costs of urinary incontinence, Obstet Gynecol 98:398-406, 2001.

2 Subak LL, Brubaker L, Chai TC, Creasman JM, Diokno AC, Goode PS, et al. High costs of urinary incontinence among women electing surgery to treat stress incontinence. Obstet Gynecol 111(4):899–907. 2008

3 Junkin J, Selekof JL. Beyond “diaper rash”: incontinence-associated dermatitis: does it have you seeing red? Nursing. 2008;38(suppl 11):56nh1-56nh10.

4 Stewart RB, Moore MT, May FE, et al: Nocturia: a risk factor for falls in the elderly, J AM Geriatric Soc 40:1217-1220, 1992.

5 Johnson TM 2nd, Kincade JE, Bernard SL, et al. The association of urinary incontinence with poor self-rated health. J Am Geriatr Soc 1998;46(6):693-699.

6 Temml C, Haidinger G, Schmidbauer J, et al. Urinary incontinence in both sexes: Prevalence rates and impact on quality of life and sexual life. Neurourol Urodyn 2000;19(3):259-271.

7 de Vries HF, Northington GM, Bogner HR. Urinary incontinence (UI) and new psychological distress among community dwelling older adults. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 55(1):49–54. 2012.