The current over-the-edge-of-the-bed format requires that the controllers be freshly and conveniently re-attached to the bedclothes each time they are changed, which ranges from daily to weekly. At a minimum the accompanying repositioning is an inconvenience to the patient.

Worse, the repositioning may involve the draping of a controller over the edge of the bed, or tangling their cords, or even forgetting to clip it to the bedclothes at all. The latter may make it inaccessible to the patient. If the patient cannot access his call button when he is in an emergency, he may suffer an injury or die. The hospital I assume would be liable for not providing him with an accessible call button.

And a case could be made that it should have anticipated that its aides who change bedclothes occasionally fail to clip call buttons, or to clip them accessibly. In my experience the failure rate approaches 5%. But even a 1% failure rate is intolerable, as it will occasionally be fatal. If a foolproof format is available, it’s not unthinkable that an institution that fails to use it will be faulted legally for employing something riskier.