Technology

Skilled Nursing News published an article about the nursing home industry’s failure to modernize with better technology. Better data monitoring would increase communication, safety, and quality of care. Dr. Frank J. Newlands is founder and CEO of Physicians Services Group. He stresses better documentation workflows and embracing more technologies to meet the needs of the residents. Newlands has said:

“Anybody who’s worked as a physician or in the ER, … There’s nothing worse than receiving a nursing home patient at 11 o’clock at night on a Friday as a ‘nursing home dump”.  There may be a legitimate reason why that patient [has been] admitted, but nobody really knows why because there’s no notes available.”

A connected or integrated electronic health record system allows seamless communication and notification. Caregivers can grab data in real-time for better assessment and treatment.

“I was quite shocked even in 2016, when I started to work in the [skilled nursing] space. They were still relying on fax machines while in the hospitals. What I was also struck by was there was not a lot of standardization and process. Most of these facilities are run by moonlighters on the medical side, which I didn’t feel was a good fit.”

Technology became more essential during the pandemic. Videoconferencing and telehealth saved many lives. However, there is always a concern related to security and privacy.