Medical Modalities Seeks Partners to Market Air Fluidized Therapy (AFT) Beds 16 Jun 2010, 4:08 pm

Concord, NC – Medical Modalities announced today that they will actively seek medical equipment suppliers to help distribute its new air fluidized therapy beds in selected areas of the country.  The HydroAire Generation II AFT bed is equipped with the latest bed innovations in air fluidized therapy, which allows it to heal patients who have very serious stage-III and -IV pressure ulcers (bed sores). The bed’s new technology improves upon old models by decreasing heat and noise produced and energy expended. The beds manageable modular size allows caregivers the ability to easily manage the patient in home and institutional settings.  

MMI president Howie Morrison explains the impact that air fluidized therapy (AFT) beds can have in healthcare.  “Today there is huge concern about re-hospitalizations and these beds assist in healing ulcers at a rate 3-4 times over conventional surfaces.  All levels of care:  hospitals, long term care and home care providers are looking for ways to manage patients more successfully that have these types of pressure wounds. Medicare and other insurers have provisions for this therapy to be reimbursed in the home.  Medical Modalities’ job is to expand service and let healthcare professionals know that the therapy is available.”

All of the beds are labeled with TÜV Rheinland safety certification.  The 60601-1 certification allows the bed to be used in hospital environments in addition to nursing homes and individual homes.  Until now, Medical Modalities has predominantly been providing beds for home use.

“Selecting partners who have experience either in acute, long term care or home health environments will assist our company to expand outside of our five state foot print” says Morrison.  The company presently serves Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and eastern Tennessee.  “Access to this type of therapy has been very limited nationally up to now and our desire is to make this wound healing therapy available to every state in the US. Up until now only two companies provide this type of bed therapy and it has been primarily for acute care, there has been very limited availability to patients in long term care and home care.”

Presently Medical Modalities has a one partner, Global Medical, LLC based in Elkridge, Maryland, which signed an agreement in May of this year to provide the HydroAire AFT bed in five Mid-Atlantic States:  Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia. Global Medical is a seasoned total wound care solution provider, serving the acute, long-term care, sub-acute and hospice markets. “We only partner with best in class organizations providing technologies that can truly improve clinical outcomes,” says Morrison. “We’ve had discussions with companies in the Midwest and some even nationally.  Right now we’re seeking companies that not only have a regional scope of services but have a very high level of service and logistical skills.  This therapy requires a company that is capable of meeting the specialized needs of wound patients and one that has the infrastructure to support those patients. We have to be discriminating about the selection of the company because of those factors.”

Aurora Manufacturing, also based in Concord, North Carolina, began manufacturing the HydroAire AFT bed in December 2008 and has an exclusive agreement with Medical Modalities to distribute the bed throughout the world.

Medical Modalities releases second round of Air Fluidized Therapy (AFT) Beds 1 Dec 2009, 1:45 pm

Concord, NC – Medical Modalities announced today that it is releasing its second production round of air fluidized therapy beds.  The HydroAire Generation II AFT bed is equipped with the latest innovations in air fluidized therapy, which allows it to heal very serious stage-III and -IV pressure ulcers. The bed’s new technology improves upon old models by decreasing heat and noise produced and energy expended. 

All of the beds will be labeled with TÜV Rheinland certification.  The 60601-1 certification allows the bed to be used in hospital environments in addition to nursing homes and individual homes.  Until now, Medical Modalities has predominantly been providing beds for home use.

“Having the beds available for hospital use will allow us to open our spectrum of service beyond home care,” said MMI President Howie Morrison. “Severe pressure wounds are a large concern of those servicing patients in long-term care facilities, and we intend to make our service available to them at a reasonable cost.” 

Morrison says the acute care and hospital market is one in which Medical Modalities may partner with other distributors who have already established a presence in the market. “Turnaround time in the acute market is four hours or less, and we want to make sure we can meet those timelines with this new bed,” he said. “There are certain companies serving those markets now that could find this bed to be a missing product out of their current product offering.”

Until last year, there were only two companies nationally that were manufacturing AFT beds: KCI and Hill Rom Industries.  Aurora Mfg. began manufacturing the HydroAire AFT bed in December 2008 and has an exclusive agreement with Medical Modalities to distribute the bed throughout the world.   

Aurora Mfg. and Medical Modalities Announce the Release of the First Production of the HydroAire Air Fluidized Therapy Bed 5 Aug 2009, 2:14 pm

Concord, NC – Medical Modalities announced today the first production release of the new HydroAire AFT bed, which was designed for patients with severe pressure ulcers. “Today is the culmination of about four years of work and planning,” said Medical Modalities President Howie Morrison.  “We have had four prototype beds in the field testing under patients since July of this past year, and this bed works better than any other system that we’ve seen.”

Air fluidized therapy (AFT) beds are commonly used for patients who have developed significant pressure ulcers on the trunk or pelvis of the body due to inactivity.  Pressure ulcers are staged I through IV, with stage-IV ulcers penetrating through soft tissue and sometimes reaching the patient’s bone.

“We’ve been providing AFT bed service since 2001, and we have seen dramatic improvement in patients that nurses have almost given up on,” Morrison said. “These beds reduce interface pressure better than any other surface on the market, and pressure is the real enemy to patients who have these bed sores.” 

Medical Modalities first encountered AFT when renting beds from KCI in San Antonio, TX.  In 2005, the company brokered a deal to purchase KCI’s fleet of 87 home-care styled AFT beds.  MMI realized the problem it faced. Having purchased the entire fleet from the only AFT bed manufacturer in the nation, the company needed to find a new source. “The only other alternative at that point was to go out and make the beds ourselves,” Morrison said.

 The HydroAire was the brainchild of Morrison and his two partners, Gene Gregory and Rick Fisher. “Rick and I were in Columbus, Ohio, one night. I came up with the name ‘HydroAire’ on a cocktail napkin,” Morrison recalled. “AFT beds are kind of like between floating on air and water, so the name HydroAire captures those qualities.”

Bryan Cheek is the lead engineer on the HydroAire project. He said the HydroAire offers some improvements over previous models of AFT beds, particularly in its use of new blower technology.  “These blowers run more efficiently, and the net result is that the beds run quieter, cooler, and use less heat in the patients’ rooms,” Cheek said. “Some of our patients have sick rooms that are no bigger than 10 ft. x 12 ft. in size.  Keeping the electricity use down is a big deal for an elderly couple on a fixed income.” 

The HydroAire AFT bed requires approximately $29 of electricity per month when used 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Previous AFT models can increase a patient’s electrical bills by as much as $75 to $100 per month.

Morrison said he senses that this is only the first production of the HydroAire AFT bed, with many more to come.  “We are only producing 25 beds on this initial run, but we’re confident that we have the modality at the right time in this healthcare environment,” Morrison said. “Everything points to less hospitalization, less nursing home use. Home care is the least expensive of all three levels of care.  Patients want to stay at home when at all possible. The HydroAire bed is going to accommodate some of those patients that would otherwise face re-hospitalization.”

HydroAire Bed Receives TÜV Certification 7 Jul 2009, 3:41 pm

New Bed Now Available for Hospital Settings

Concord, NC – Aurora Mfg. based in Concord, NC, announced today that its new air fluidized therapy bed has achieved TÜV Rheinland certification.  “This certification is going to allow the HydroAire to be placed in hospital settings,” said Howie Morrison, one of the owners of Aurora Mfg.  “We have been so involved with home placement of our AFT beds over the last eight years that we haven’t given much time to acute care placement.  But working with distribution partners that service the long-term care facilities, we think it is only a matter of time before the bed will be requested for hospital use.”

Air fluidized therapy (AFT) beds are typically used for patients with severe pressure ulcers, also known as bed sores. The beds are ideal for patients suffering from stage-III or -IV ulcers that have penetrated soft tissues, muscles, and may even reach the bone.  AFT beds represent the best environment for such patients because they reduce interface pressures between the patient and the surface better than any other product in the industry.  Pressure mapping of a HydroAire AFT bed shows that interface pressures are well below capillary closure (32 mmHg).  When capillary closure occurs, blood flow stops and the propensity for skin breakdown can occur.

“Pressure ulcers can occur to anyone who has limited movement,” said Morrison.  “Someone who is constantly bed-bound is at risk.  It goes beyond socioeconomic barriers and can occur to anyone that isn’t routinely being turned.  Christopher Reeve, the actor who played Superman, died from complications due to a pressure ulcer that became septic and killed him only seven days after speaking at a conference in Chicago.  Here’s a guy that had access to the best healthcare and completely accommodated his home to meet his condition, and he still died due to complications of a pressure ulcer.”

Medical Modalities based in Concord, NC, has distribution rights to the HydroAire and currently has more than 100 patients using AFT beds in their homes.  “Having TÜV Rheinland certification not only allows for hospital distribution, but it is the ‘Good Housekeeping’ seal in the industry for safety,” says Medical Modalities Chief Operating Officer Paul Demmink.  “Going through the certification experience helps to ensure that patients are going to be completely safe while performing their therapy.  We think that we have the best AFT bed that is available. It is capable of healing patients at rates that are three to four times faster than conventional therapy.”

Medical Modalities presently provides service in the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, and Tennessee and has distribution partners that can provide service throughout the Eastern seaboard. “The objective next year will be to provide coverage into the Midwestern United States and further into the Southeast.  Since we have limited competition, our final goals are to achieve full distribution across the US by 2014,” Demmink concluded.