Hospitals invest in moving patients

Adequate care in the moving of patients is not only an ongoing concern of medical personnel and the patients themselves, but of lawmakers as well. A state law passed in 2009 requires hospitals to develop strategies to control risk of injury to patients and health care workers when moving a patient. Last year, lawmakers added a provision requiring workers to talk with patients about how they may be moved and allow them some say in the matter. The initiatives toward safer procedures when moving patients is being driven in large part by the growing numbers of older patients and heavier patients, experts say . Obesity has risen dramatically in the United States in recent years.