Prestigious early-career development program pairs versatile high-achieving college graduates with future-focused businesses in Indiana  

Fishers, Indiana January 8, 2026 – Recovery Force 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, today announced they have hired Julia Fales through a partnership with the prestigious Orr Fellowship program. Fales is a recent graduate of Butler University and is joining Recovery Force Health as a Marketing Specialist, contributing to their mission of impacting patient lives across the country. 

The Orr Fellowship recruits, assesses, and matches university graduates with high-agency roles in growing Indiana businesses. For a duration of two years, Orr Fellowship and partner companies give graduates the professional development resources and support network they need to accelerate their careers. The program currently operates two chapters, one in Indianapolis and one in Evansville, Indiana.  

Orr Fellows are carefully selected from a competitive pool of applicants, ensuring that companies gain access to the most promising graduates from across the country. This year, the top 10% of candidates advanced to Finalist Day from a competitive pool that started with 1200 candidates at the beginning of the recruitment process. 

“Becoming an Orr Fellowship Partner Organization was an easy decision because the organization brings together some of the most driven and talented emerging leaders in Indiana,” said Karlee Mason, Director of Marketing & Customer Success. “From the moment we met Julia, we knew she would be a great fit for our team, bringing fresh perspectives, curiosity, and a strong desire to make an impact. We’re incredibly excited to invest in her growth and can’t wait to see her shine these next two years.” 

Recovery Force Health is committed to fostering a dynamic and inclusive work environment where young professionals can thrive and develop their careers. As part of the Recovery Force Health team, Julia will create engaging digital and video content, manage and grow social channels, and develop high-impact marketing collateral. She will collaborate closely with numerous departments on the team to support product launches, campaigns, and events – all while bringing fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to the Marketing team.  

“Partnering with Orr Fellowship enables companies to actively fuel the professional growth and development of future leaders, while Fellows, in turn, bring fresh perspectives and energy to their teams,” said Steven Emch, President of Orr Fellowship. “We’re excited to see our partner companies play such an integral role in shaping Fellows’ experiences. Many Fellows choose to stay with their partner companies after completing the program, making this partnership a strategic investment in long-term talent retention. With 66% of Fellows staying beyond their two-year fellowship, the program creates a reliable pipeline for future leaders.” 

For more information about Orr Fellowship and how to become a partner company, visit www.orrfellowship.org. More information about Recovery Force Health can be found at https://rfhealth.com/ https://rfhealth.com/. 

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About Recovery Force 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 (VTE) 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. 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 

About Orr Fellowship 

Founded in 2001, Orr Fellowship is an early career development program for versatile high-achievers and future-focused businesses in Indiana. The organization recruits, assesses and matches university graduates with high-agency roles in growing Indiana businesses. Together, Orr Fellowship and partner companies give graduates the professional development resources and support network they need to accelerate their careers in business and positively impact Indiana. Learn more about Orr Fellowship here. 

Approximately 1 in 10 hospitalized patients develops a pressure injury, making hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) one of the most common and costly hospital-acquired conditions in the United States. As hospitals and health systems navigate the changing landscape of policies and best practices, pressure injury prevention must remain a top priority in patient care.

For example, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) currently requires hospitals to report Stage 3 and 4 HAPIs for quality reporting and reimbursement purposes. However, the recently introduced electronic Clinical Quality Measure (eCQM) Hospital Harm – Pressure Injury will expand reporting requirements to include Stage 2 pressure injuries.

While reporting Stage 2 pressure injuries is voluntary as of now, it will become mandatory in 2028. As a result, healthcare providers must prioritize more effective pressure injury prevention protocols to focus on patient compliance, avoid penalties, and achieve optimal reimbursement rates.

Early Detection and Prevention

One crucial aspect of pressure injury prevention is conducting comprehensive skin checks upon admission. Accurate staging of pressure injuries at this point is also vital. This process helps identify existing pressure injuries and ensures that hospitals are not unfairly penalized for conditions that existed prior to admission.

However, while proper skin checks and staging are essential first steps, they are only part of the solution. Hospitalized patients are at a higher risk for developing a pressure injury when they have a medical condition that prevents them from changing positions or moving. As a result, hospitals need access to effective tools and technologies that can help prevent HAPIs, including positioning aids that address the primary contributing factors of friction and shear, and the use of a support surface with high-specification reactive foam for immobile persons.

Revaluating Redistribution vs. Offloading

By investing in innovative pressure injury prevention solutions, hospitals can improve patient comfort and reduce their risk of HAPI-related penalties. However, one area of ongoing debate in pressure injury prevention is the use of redistribution versus offloading techniques. While both approaches have their merits in mitigating the risk of pressure injury, they employ different methodologies.

Redistribution involves spreading pressure across a broader area of the body, thereby reducing stress on any single point. This method focuses on creating a supportive and evenly distributed surface that minimizes localized pressure points. Conversely, offloading completely eliminates pressure from susceptible areas, such as the sacrum and heels, a technique that can be particularly effective for preventing HAPIs from occurring in the first place, or for patients with existing wounds.

The challenge lies in how offloading devices are engineered. Effective offloading should not inadvertently increase pressure in other areas, underscoring the need for a carefully balanced approach that incorporates redistribution and offloading in the design of optimal pressure injury prevention devices.

Industry guidelines from the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP) and Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society (WOCN) reinforce this, including instruction such as to reposition patients in a way that offloading of pressure points and maximum redistribution of pressure are achieved, as well as utilizing offloading tools such as specialized support surfaces to redistribute pressure.

Unfortunately, commonly used support surfaces for the two most prevalent sites of pressure injury, the sacrum and heel, are not designed to manage risk through redistribution and offloading. Devices such as waffle mattresses do not truly offload a patient’s sacrum; they merely redistribute body weight elsewhere. Many foam wedges used for prevention may achieve repositioning but often do not fully redistribute pressure due to possible sacral contact over time.

Clinical evidence supporting consistent pressure redistribution by traditional heel off-loading devices such as “moon boots” is also limited. Some offloading strategies may reduce heel contact pressure, but research on their ability to redistribute pressure more broadly and to do so reliably is insufficient. Furthermore, multiple straps can create problematic pressure points, cause shear, and lead to ineffective positioning, making proper heel care more complicated than it should be.

On the other hand, modern solutions designed with specialized materials such as a memory foam-type surface feature immersion and envelopment technology, reducing pressure on vulnerable areas and evenly distributing weight. Innovative products like the HeelP.O.D. Pressure Offloading Device and ELEVATE Patient Positioners exemplify this balance.

ELEVATE effectively offloads the sacrum and contours to the patient’s body for optimal redistribution. The proprietary material grips the mattress and holds the patient securely in place, minimizing the need for frequent boosting—a leading cause of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in healthcare. This is particularly important as 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)! The patient begins at 40° and maintains the 30° position, aligning with NPIAP-recommended guidelines.

HeelP.O.D. incorporates an open-air concept and effectively offloads or “floats” the foot. Inside HeelP.O.D. are four layers of a specialized memory foam-type material that provide comfort while redistributing pressure across the device to prevent issues with the Achilles tendon or calf. The unique design of the device provides full heel access and visualization, enabling continuous use during wound debridement, dressing changes, skin assessments, and range-of-motion therapy.

By understanding both principles and integrating them into HAPI prevention solutions, healthcare providers can ensure that patients receive the best possible care. With solutions that utilize memory foam-type and other innovative materials, like those seen in HeelP.O.D. and ELEVATE, pressure redistribution and offloading become more effective and patient-friendly. These products not only facilitate better patient outcomes but also enhance compliance and usability.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is a significant and preventable complication of hospitalization. Affecting up to 600,000 patients annually, VTE is a leading cause of preventable hospital death, post-surgical readmissions, and increased length of stay.

To address this growing issue, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has established VTE-related standards as part of the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program. This program utilizes electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) to track and report VTE prophylaxis and hospital-acquired VTE (HA-VTE) rates. Hospitals in the lowest-performing quartile face payment reductions, impacting their reimbursements.

Key CMS VTE-related measures include:

• CMS108v11: Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis (VTE-1): This measure assesses whether patients receive VTE prophylaxis or have documentation of why prophylaxis was not given 
• CMS190v14 Intensive Care Unit Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis (VTE-2): This measure focuses on patients in intensive care units who receive VTE prophylaxis or have documentation of why no VTE prophylaxis was given.

Given the significant risks and consequences of VTE, effective prevention strategies are essential.

VTE Prophylaxis Methods

Almost all hospitalized patients have at least one risk factor for VTE, and approximately 40% have three or more risk factors. One crucial intervention to reduce the risk of HA-VTE is the use of prophylaxis.

There are two primary categories of VTE prophylaxis:

• Pharmacological prophylaxis: Anticoagulant medications to inhibit blood clotting, such as Low Molecular Weight Heparins (LMWHs).
• Mechanical prophylaxis: Techniques to promote venous return and reduce blood clot risk, such as intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) devices. These devices often utilize sleeves or cuffs that apply external compression to increase blood flow in the deep veins, moving it towards the heart and preventing pooling.

Mechanical prophylaxis is an integral part of VTE prevention and is recommended across nearly all risk categories for patients with average or high bleeding risk. It is particularly beneficial 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.

The Impact of Mobility

Prolonged bed rest and inactivity can lead to hospital-acquired immobility, which significantly increases the risk of VTE and other serious complications. In fact, patients may spend up to 95% of their hospital stay in bed, highlighting the need for early and progressive mobilization to help prevent HA-VTE.

Early mobilization is associated with improved functional outcomes, reduced hospital costs, and decreased length of stay. Mobilization efforts can include:

• Ambulation
• Periodic changes in position, such as turning or sitting up in bed
• Dangling legs at the side of the bed
• Moving to a chair

By prioritizing early and progressive patient mobilization, healthcare providers can help mitigate the effects of hospital-acquired immobility and reduce the risk of VTE and other complications. Encouraging patients to mobilize helps to improve their physical function, reduce hospital-acquired conditions such as blood clots, shorten hospital stays, and improve their physical and neurocognitive outcomes.

Overcoming Barriers to Effective VTE Prevention

Despite the effectiveness of VTE prophylaxis, compliance with recommended utilization in both medical and surgical patients is suboptimal or not at all. Up to 70% of VTE cases among hospitalized patients are preventable, yet fewer than half receive adequate preventive treatment. Many factors can contribute to this – patients often experience discomfort, sleep disturbance, lack of education, or don’t want to be tethered to the bed more than they already might be.

How RF Health is Paving the Way for Improved Patient Outcomes 

In 2022, our team launched an innovative wearable mobile compression device, offering promising solutions to overcome the limitations of traditional IPC devices. The Movement And Compressions (MAC) System aims to promote safe mobility, increase compliance, and provide accurate data on wear time, patient orientation, and steps. By addressing the shortcomings of traditional IPC devices, these innovations can help enhance the effectiveness of VTE prevention strategies.

Key Features of the MAC System for Blood Clot Prevention

• Mobile Compressions: A true tubeless/cordless design allowing patients to mobilize without needing assistance unplugging/replugging from the device
• Data at Your Fingertips: MAC provides real-time data on the screen to show a patient’s mobility, wear time, and compliance over a 48-hour period, allowing staff to make actionable decisions and see how a patient is progressing. *Additional data-reporting options are available, including EMR integration capability
• Patient Comfort: MAC is approximately one-third the size of current standard-of-care devices. It is a more lightweight, quiet, breathable option for compression therapy, helping to drive compliance. 
• Dynamic Sizing: MAC’s adaptive fit responds to changes in calf circumference, ensuring the patient is consistently receiving the right amount of compression. 

By leveraging innovations, including cordless and tubeless wearable mobile compression devices such as the MAC System, healthcare providers can improve patient outcomes, reduce the risk of VTE, and enhance the overall quality of care.

Conclusion

As CMS continues to track and report VTE prophylaxis and hospital-acquired VTE rates through its Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program, healthcare organizations must prioritize effective VTE prevention strategies to avoid payment reductions and improve patient outcomes. Utilizing innovative mechanical prophylaxis technologies, early mobilization, and other evidence-based strategies enables healthcare providers to deliver preventative care that addresses each patient’s unique needs while effectively meeting CMS standards.

What is Hospital-Associated Venous Thromboembolism?

Hospital-Associated Venous Thromboembolism (HA-VTE) is a significant, deadly, costly, and growing public health problem within US hospitals, affecting an estimated 350,000 to 600,000 patients annually. Commonly defined as a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), or both, it is a frequent complication of hospitalization, accounting for approximately one-half to two-thirds of VTE incidence worldwide.

Additional risk factors of DVT and PE include:

Chronic Medical Conditions

Prolonged Immobility

The more risk factors a person has, the greater the risk. As a result, VTE prevention is considered one of the most critical interventions that directly affects patient safety and the overall cost of care. However, even though as many as 70% of HA-VTE cases are preventable, fewer than half of hospitalized patients receive preventative measures.

Evidence-Based Recommendations for the Prevention of VTE

Clinical guidelines, such as the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Guideline for the Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism, offer healthcare teams a practical framework for developing and implementing protocols, including the use of mechanical prophylaxis.

Key recommendations outlined in the AORN guidelines include:

• Encourage early and frequent ambulation or mobilization as a postoperative intervention to prevent VTE.
• Use portable, battery-operated mobile compression devices to increase patient compliance and mobility.
• Ensure intermittent pneumatic compression devices can record wear time to monitor adherence.

How Does Compression Therapy Work?

Mechanical prophylaxis, such as intermittent pneumatic compression devices (IPCDs), is a compression therapy used to help prevent blood clots. These devices promote blood flow by utilizing sleeves or cuffs placed around the legs that inflate and deflate to apply external pressure, “squeezing” the legs. This compression increases blood flow in the deep veins, moving blood towards the heart and preventing pooling, which reduces the risk of clot formation.

Benefits of Mobile Compression Devices

Early mobilization is another critical aspect of VTE prevention. It is associated with improved functional outcomes, reduced hospital costs, and a decreased length of stay, as well as lessening the risk of readmissions and the potential financial penalties that accompany them.

Portable IPCDs offer the potential advantage of continued use during ambulation. In contrast, non-portable devices must be removed when a patient ambulates.

A randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigated the use of a battery-powered portable IPCD compared to a stationary device plugged into an outlet. The researchers found that the use of the portable, battery-operated device significantly increased patient compliance.

Another study published in an international, peer-reviewed nursing journal aimed to determine whether using a tubeless, cordless mechanical compression device compared with a standard IPCD impacts compliance with mechanical VTE prophylaxis in trauma patients. The results concluded that the absence of cords and tubes promotes safe mobility. This significantly influenced compliance and enabled patients to be mobilized safely without the need to unplug/re-plug the device.

Adopting wearable, portable, battery-operated compression devices that eliminate cords and tubes supportAORN recommendations by improving comfort, promoting early mobilization, and providing objective wear time and mobility data that can be documented. 

Integrating wearable mechanical compression devices into a comprehensive, AORN-guided VTE prevention protocol ultimately helps improve patient safety and reduce the incidence of HA-VTEs.

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Learn more about RF Health’s innovative approach to HA-VTE prevention: rfhealth.com/movement-and-compressions

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:

• Have limited mobility
• Have a medical condition that prevents them from changing positions or moving
• A Braden Score of 18 or less

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

• Repositioning every two hours remains the cornerstone of pressure relief, especially for at-risk patients.
• Use a 30-degree turn off of the sacrum and protect vulnerable areas such as bony prominences
• Utilize offloading tools such as specialized support surfaces to redistribute pressure
• Use heel suspension devices that elevate (float) and offload the heel completely

Tools and Support Devices

• Follow the NPIAP Standardized Pressure Injury Prevention Protocol (S-PIPP) checklist for daily assessment and care planning.
• Use positioning aids that reduce friction and shear, both of which contribute to tissue breakdown.
• For immobile patients, use high-specification reactive foam surfaces to improve pressure redistribution.

Mobility and Engagement

• When possible, implement early mobilization programs to encourage movement and reduce immobility-related pressure.
• Engage patients and caregivers in education around repositioning, skin care, and the importance of frequent movement.

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:

• Hospitals avoid CMS penalties and litigation risk
• Length of stay is reduced
• Costs of care decrease
• Patient outcomes improve

Learn more about hospital-acquired pressure injury prevention in our latest infographic.