Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) is a blood clot that forms in a vein located deep within the body, most commonly the lower leg or thigh. However, DVT can also occur in areas such as the pelvis, groin, or even the arm.
Agreement will Implement The Movement And Compressions (MAC) System in All Community Health Network Hospitals Across Indiana, Covering Over 34,000 Legs per Year Over the Next Five Years
Fishers, Indiana – September 3, 2025 – Recovery Force Health (RF Health), a provider of data-driven med-tech devices and healthcare solutions that revolutionize the process of early mobilization, blood clot (DVT) prevention, and pressure injury prevention, recently announced its long-term contract for The Movement and Compressions (MAC) System with Indiana’s Community Health Network. With this partnership, RF Health anticipates serving over 34,000 legs (about 17,000 patients) per year over the next five years.
The MAC System is the world’s first tubeless, cordless wearable therapeutic mechanical compression device designed for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prevention that also tracks and monitors patient data at the point-of-care. An integrated display highlights data, including compliance (wear time), time in bed, time upright (such as time spent sitting in a chair or dangling at the side of the bed), and number of steps taken. This data is available for up to 48 hours to empower bedside caregivers with critical metrics to support the execution of in-hospital mobility and adherence to the recommended 18-22 hours of venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis. Leveraging these insights allows hospitals to intervene sooner to prevent clinical deterioration, reduce complications from hospital-acquired conditions, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.
The agreement builds on a growing relationship between the two Indiana-based companies, that kicked off in 2023. Community North Hospital, one of the 6 hospitals within the hospital network initiated a Quality Improvement Project to understand how the MAC System impacted incidence of VTE on their high-risk Ortho/Neuro/Spine (ONS) unit. Over the course of seven months, the number of VTE events decreased from eight to zero post-implementation. The MAC System was also found to increase satisfaction with patients and staff alike, stating that the devices were more comfortable, less noisy, promoted early mobilization, and less sleep disruption. The RF Health team continues to work closely with the team at Community Health Network.
“Hospitals across the country have been using standard-of-care sequential compression devices for the past 50 years,” said Jason M. Bobay, CEO & President of Recovery Force Health. “Community Health Network, however, is forging ahead with its commitment to innovation. They are invested in improving patient outcomes by ensuring patients get the needed squeeze to prevent blood clots and boosting mobility prior to discharge. We applaud our Community Health Network partners for this exciting step.”
“Partnering with RF Health to bring the MAC System to all of our hospitals is a natural next step in our mission to deliver exceptional, evidence-based care,” said Angie Foley, Clinical Nurse Specialist at Community Heart & Vascular Hospital. “The results from our pilot were remarkable; not only did we see a significant decrease in VTE events, but our patients and care teams embraced the technology. By expanding this program, we’re giving our clinicians the tools they need to mobilize patients earlier, reduce complications, and help them recover faster.”
About RF Health
Recovery Force Health (RF Health) is the premier provider of data-driven med-tech devices and healthcare solutions that revolutionize the process of early mobilization, blood clot (DVT) prevention, pressure injury prevention, and post-operative care. Our mission is to help solve fundamental, day-to-day patient and healthcare team member challenges with evidence-based solutions.
RF Health is at the forefront of preventative healthcare, leveraging medical device technology to promote healthier lifestyles and reduce hospital-acquired conditions, including hospital-acquired immobility and hospital-acquired pressure injury. The company’s data-driven prevention approach ensures that RF Health devices enhance patient outcomes and provide measurable benefits. RF Health customers include hospitals and healthcare teams focused on enhancing the quality of care and driving change. To learn more please visit www.rfhealth.com
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SVM Public Relations
RFHealth@svmpr.com
Despite being largely preventable, hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) remain one of the most common and costly hospital-acquired conditions in the United States. More than 2.5 million people are affected annually, with approximately 1 in 10 hospitalized patients developing a pressure injury during their stay.
The financial burden is also staggering: the U.S. healthcare system spends an estimated $12 billion annually managing hospital-acquired pressure injuries, with chronic cases driving that figure to over $22 billion. On an individual level, treatment costs can range from $20,900 to $151,700 per injury. Furthermore, pressure injuries are associated with a 57% longer length of stay and a 22% higher rate of 30-day readmissions.
The Impact on Patients and Healthcare Teams
The most common sites to develop pressure injuries are the sacrum and heels. Both types of HAPIs lead to increased patient suffering, a higher risk of infection, longer recovery times, increased mortality rates, and decreased quality of life.
And the consequences of hospital-acquired pressure injuries extend beyond the bedside. HAPIs are also associated with financial penalties, reputational risk, and greater resource utilization for healthcare providers, as well as added burden on clinical staff.
The Critical Role and Challenge for Nurses
Hospital-acquired pressure injuries demand more time, attention, and care coordination. Nurses are at the front line of pressure injury prevention; they are responsible for identifying at-risk patients and initiating early interventions. Their role is critical to improving outcomes and reducing the incidence of HAPIs.
However, the added workload associated with HAPIs is significant. In a 500-bed hospital, more than 150 nursing hours per day may be dedicated to managing and preventing pressure injuries. Furthermore, transferring, lifting, boosting, and repositioning patients is the leading cause of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in healthcare. The cumulative weight a nurse may have to lift during an 8-hour shift is equal to 1.8 tons (or 9 tons per week)!
Healthcare organizations must rethink how pressure injury prevention is integrated into care workflows in ways that improve patient outcomes, operational efficiency, and work-life quality.
Regulatory Pressure Is Rising
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has long recognized the occurrence of hospital-acquired pressure injuries as a growing concern and an indicator of the quality of care delivered in healthcare settings. Hospitals are currently required to report Stage 3 and 4 pressure injuries for quality reporting and reimbursement purposes. However, change is on the horizon.
CMS recently introduced a new electronic Clinical Quality Measure (eCQM), called “Hospital Harm – Pressure Injury“, for the 2025 Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) program. This measure will expand reporting requirements to include new Stage 2 pressure. While reporting is voluntary in 2025, it will become mandatory in 2028 and is expected to influence reimbursement rates.
This regulatory change signals a broader shift toward increased accountability, transparency, earlier detection, and stronger incentives for prevention. Hospitals that delay adapting to these new expectations risk financial penalties and lower performance scores in the future.
Effective Prevention and Management Strategies
The cost of preventing hospital-acquired pressure injury is significantly lower than the cost of treatment.
Proactive strategies for HAPI prevention support operational efficiency, enhance patient experiences and outcomes, and help healthcare systems reduce avoidable costs.
Patients are at higher risk of developing a pressure injury:
However, most pressure injuries are preventable through interventions by healthcare workers, caregivers, and patients. The National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP) outlines several key strategies for prevention, such as the methods detailed below.
Core Prevention Practices
Tools and Support Devices
Mobility and Engagement
By aligning care practices with these proven strategies, healthcare organizations can make significant progress in reducing pressure injury rates.
The Importance of Immersion and Envelopment in Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injury Prevention
When selecting support surfaces for pressure injury prevention, clinicians should prioritize options that provide both immersion and envelopment, two critical characteristics for optimal pressure redistribution. Extensive clinical literature, including guidance from the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP), reinforces the significance of load distribution with immersion and envelopment in reducing the risk of pressure injuries.
Immersion refers to the ability of a surface to distribute body weight by allowing a user to “sink in.” Envelopment is the ability of the support surface to conform to the shape of the body as it sinks in. Higher envelopment is characterized by lower, more uniform weight distribution with a high contact area. Together, these properties maximize contact area and reduce peak pressures on vulnerable areas such as the sacrum and heels.
However, many commonly used hospital support surfaces do not provide effective immersion and envelopment, limiting their effectiveness in high-risk patients. Investing in advanced surfaces designed to optimize both factors can play a crucial role in a comprehensive pressure injury prevention strategy.
Innovations in Pressure Injury Prevention
At RF Health, we’re committed to overcoming these challenges by offering patient-centered solutions that support healthcare teams and improve outcomes using voice of the customer (VOC) based feedback from clinicians in the field. Our Pressure Injury Prevention (PIP) portfolio directly targets the two most common and costly HAPIs: sacral and heel pressure injuries.
Our pressure injury prevention solutions ELEVATE™ and HeelP.O.D.™ feature immersion and envelopment technologies so the devices effectively contour to the body shape and remain securely in place.
HeelPOD uniquely offloads or “floats” the foot, ensuring full heel access and visualization. The device supports wound care efforts by allowing continuous use during wound debridement, dressing changes, skin assessments, and range of motion therapy. It streamlines application and removal, saving valuable time in patient care while enhancing patient comfort and compliance.
ELEVATE Patient Positioners effectively offload the sacrum and seamlessly contour to the body for optimal bodyweight pressure redistribution – overall enhancing patient comfort and compliance. The weight-activated grip keeps the patient in place with a proprietary material that grips to the mattress; the patient starts at 40 ° and holds at 30°, as recommended by the NPIAP guidelines.
These innovative pressure injury prevention solutions are designed to prevent patients from getting a HAPI and ease the burden on clinical teams.
When pressure injuries are prevented:
Learn more about hospital-acquired pressure injury prevention in our latest infographic.
At Recovery Force Health, innovation is fueled not only by technology but by the talented team members behind it. This summer, we had the pleasure of working with Nealon Shah, an ambitious young computer science major at Indiana University. As his internship draws to a close, we sat down with Nealon to learn more about his activities with us this summer, his interests, and how his time at RF Health is helping to shape his future plans.
Q: Tell us about yourself and how you landed at RF Health this summer.
I’m originally from Fishers, Indiana, which is also where RF Health is headquartered, so it feels like home. I’m currently studying Computer Science and minoring in Economics at Indiana University. Eventually, I hope to work in finance, using AI and data analytics to solve complex problems.
I connected with RF Health through Matt Wyatt, a longtime family friend. I reached out to him to explore opportunities, and he introduced me to Jason and Karlee. After learning more about the company and the exciting challenges they were working on, I knew I wanted to be part of it.
Q: What kind of work did you take on during your internship?
In the beginning, I spent time understanding our existing data pipeline and how we collect and analyze data from our devices, especially the MAC System. This foundation helped me identify ways we could evolve our approach.
From there, I started building dashboards to help clinicians and internal teams better visualize data. These tools are already helping us uncover insights from trial data and could eventually support broader efforts like gamification, which is an idea that’s still in development but very promising.
Most recently, I’ve been working with machine learning models to help us forecast trends and make more proactive decisions. It’s all about enabling the team to act on insights quickly—ultimately improving outcomes for patients.
Q: What has been the most rewarding part of your internship?
The people. The RF Health team has been incredibly supportive and collaborative. I’ve worked closely with Karlee, and what’s been amazing is how our skill sets complement each other. She brings the customer and clinical perspective, and I bring the technical. It’s a true symbiotic relationship, and we’ve been able to accomplish a lot together.
Also, I’ve been given quite a bit of agency here, which has been incredible. I didn’t expect to have such a major role in building out the data strategy, but I’ve been trusted to lead and execute. That’s rare for an intern and something I really value.
Q: What surprised you most about your experience at RF Health?
Honestly, I was surprised by how much I’d be able to support and shape the data infrastructure. I thought I’d be refining existing systems, but instead, I’m helping to build a new data foundation from the ground up. That level of ownership was unexpected, and it’s been incredibly fulfilling.
Q: What are some key lessons you’re taking with you?
The biggest one is learning to think strategically, not just analytically. Early on, I was focused on pulling insights from the data, but over time, I learned to anticipate what insights would be useful, where we should be heading, and how to align data work with broader company goals. That shift from analysis to strategy is something I’ll carry with me going forward.
Q: Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?
Five years is a long time from now, so I’m not exactly sure, but I do know I want to be in a role where I’m leading a team, driving innovation, and working proactively, not reactively. I want to make meaningful changes and build solutions that have real value for others.
Q: Any final reflections on your summer at RF Health?
Being part of a fast-growing company has been an incredible experience. There’s so much energy here and so much momentum—it’s exciting to contribute to something that’s evolving in real time. I’ve loved being part of this journey and learning how much a small, focused team can accomplish when everyone is aligned on a mission.
Nealon’s work this summer has laid the foundation for a more powerful, proactive use of data at RF Health. We’ve enjoyed his expertise, input and willingness to jump in. We can’t wait to see what he accomplishes next.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is a significant health concern in US hospitals, affecting 350,000 to 600,000 patients annually. A leading cause of avoidable hospital deaths and post-surgical readmissions, VTE prevention is crucial for patient safety and cost-effective care.
To address this, healthcare organizations are prioritizing critical interventions such as mechanical prophylaxis, with electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQMs) playing a key role in tracking and reporting VTE prophylaxis and hospital-associated VTE (HA-VTE) rates.
Tracking VTE with CMS Electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQMs)
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) guides hospitals in tracking and reporting on VTE through specific eCQMs, focusing on harm reduction and improved patient safety. These measures are part of CMS’s broader initiative to enhance patient safety and care quality by monitoring and reducing the incidence of hospital-acquired conditions, such as VTE.
Two key measures are:
The Importance of VTE Prophylaxis
Up to 70% of VTE cases among hospitalized patients are preventable, yet fewer than half receive adequate preventive treatment. Effective VTE prophylaxis protocols can significantly reduce hospital mortality and morbidity.
There are two primary categories of VTE prophylaxis:
Mechanical Prophylaxis: A Key Component of VTE Prevention
Mechanical prophylaxis is an integral part of VTE prevention, particularly when pharmacological options are contraindicated or in patients at mid-to-low risk who may not require medication. A combination of both mechanical and pharmacological interventions can also effectively reduce the risk of VTE in some cases. (See our recent blog to learn more on this.)
IPC devices are widely accepted as a standard of care for mechanical VTE prophylaxis, but nonadherence remains a challenge. While studies show IPC devices can effectively reduce the risk of VTE, reported compliance rates are often as low as 40%. Discomfort is also a primary factor, making it difficult for patients to achieve the recommended wear time of 18-22 hours per day.
Enhancing VTE Prevention and Tracking with Data-Driven Insights
Hospitals can also enhance VTE prevention strategies and patient outcomes by analyzing data to develop more effective strategies to reduce the incidence of VTE. However, despite the critical importance of VTE prevention, the integration of eCQMs presents challenges, including reliance on documentation that may not accurately reflect prophylactic measures. Addressing these issues requires a more concerted effort in data collection to ensure accuracy and provide meaningful insights.
Key Metrics for VTE Prevention
Obtaining critical metrics, such as prophylaxis prevalence and hospital-associated VTE incidence, is essential for effective VTE prevention. A data-driven approach can significantly enhance this process by:
By leveraging data-driven insights, hospitals can optimize their VTE prevention strategies, drive quality improvement, and ultimately deliver better patient outcomes.
Innovations in Mechanical Prophylaxis
Despite its effectiveness, VTE prophylaxis remains underused or is used sub optimally in both medical and surgical patients. This is largely due to the current standard of care, where IPC devices often fail to meet patients’ needs due to significant limitations that impact their effectiveness and safety. (Learn more here) New technologies, such as wearable mobile compression devices, offer promising solutions to overcome the limitations of traditional IPC devices.
Wearable Compression Technology
One novel approach to VTE prevention that’s gaining traction, backed by evidence-based research, is the Movement And Compressions (MAC) System. The MAC System is a battery-operated, cordless, and tubeless wearable therapeutic compression device that provides compressions to the calf muscles using force instead of air to increase venous blood flow and reduce the risk of clot formation.
An integrated display highlights individual patient mobility data, including compliance (wear time), time in bed, time upright (such as time spent sitting a chair or dangling at the side of the bed), and number of steps taken, with seamless integration capabilities into electronic medical record (EMR) to streamline data tracking and inform care decisions. Up to 48 hours of patient data are available to empower bedside caregivers with critical metrics to support the execution of in-hospital mobility and adherence to the recommended 18-22 hours of VTE prophylaxis.
Its innovative design addresses many limitations of traditional IPC devices, enhancing early mobilization efforts and improving patient outcomes. It is the only known portable, non-pneumatic compression device that also measures and displays patient mobility data, along with its EMR integration capabilities, currently available in the clinical setting.
Benefits of the MAC System include:
Evidence-Based Research Supporting the MAC System
Studies have shown that wearable therapeutic compression devices like the MAC System can lead to:
A recent Quality Improvement (QI) project reported a 92% increase in compliance and a reduction in VTE incidence over a 7-month period using the MAC System.
The accurate and actionable data provided by wearable compression devices, such as the MAC system, can help hospitals overcome the limitations of traditional data collection methods and improve their eCQM reporting. As hospitals adopt these new technologies, they can enhance their VTE prevention strategies while meeting CMS reporting requirements and driving quality improvement initiatives, ultimately leading to better patient outcomes.
Preparing for CMS eCQM Compliance and Harm Reduction
As CMS continues to prioritize harm reduction measures, hospitals must stay ahead of the curve by implementing effective strategies for VTE prevention. To meet CMS reporting requirements and improve patient outcomes, hospitals should focus on the following:
By prioritizing VTE prevention, harm reduction, and leveraging solutions such as wearable compression devices with data-driven insights, hospitals can enhance patient safety, reduce VTE incidence, and improve care quality.