Seamless handoffs between nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities are an integral part of care coordination efforts under new payment models — and, in turn, financial success. But new study determines that even when providers have tools to ease patient handoffs, they find them hard to use to achieve their goals — or decline to […]
Category: Technology
ResMed (NYSE: RMD, ASX: RMD) announced Monday that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire post-acute software provider MatrixCare for $750 million. “We were looking for another great addition to add a third leg, if you like, to the stool of our out-of-hospital software investments, and MatrixCare just came straight to the top,” ResMed CEO Mick […]
Zimmet Healthcare Services Group on Thursday launched an analytics platform specifically targeting financial and reimbursement professionals in the skilled nursing space. Providers’ data needs are only likely to grow with the implementation of the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) on October 1, 2019. “There’s going to be tremendous variation in nursing home Medicare expenditures [with PDPM], […]
In a skilled nursing landscape dominated by a shortage of workers on every level, a Newton, Mass.-based staffing company is trying to make adding temporary workers as easy as ride-hailing. ConnectRN was founded in 2014 by current CEO Michael Wood, Idriz Limaj, and Agron Ademi. The company uses mobile software to allow registered nurses (RNs), licensed […]
Go to any skilled nursing or senior living conference, and you’ll be greeted with a wide array of exciting new technologies with the potential for making residents’ and workers’ lives better. On the flashier end, there’s full-size exoskeletons that can help seniors walk again, or virtual-reality games that help users re-learn how to swallow and […]
Use of after-hours telemedicine in one New York skilled nursing facility reduced avoidable hospitalizations significantly, according to a case study published in the American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC). The study was led by Dr. David Chess, the founder, president, and chief medical officer of Tapestry Telehealth, a company focused on SNFs in rural communities. […]
Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA) last week announced a strategic partnership with health care data analytics firm PointRight, in a move the companies are describing as a more proactive approach to monitoring individual skilled nursing facility performance. Under the agreement, tenants of Sabra-owned nursing homes will be able to use PointRight’s data software for […]
Voice technology has promise in senior care, but skilled nursing providers and residents need to keep their expectations tempered, one expert says. When it comes to Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, Elizabeth Mynatt, the executive director of Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology, has a note of caution. “I think the Alexa is unproven,” Mynatt […]
Most of the talk surrounding the potential for consumer-grade gadgets in long-term care focuses on the lower-acuity world of assisted and independent living, where residents generally have more mobility and autonomy. But one skilled nursing provider says it’s seeing success with its fleet of Amazon Echo devices — both for residents and employees. The New […]
In an era of tight financial constraints for skilled nursing facilities, one owner-operator turned to a unique funding source to offset construction costs — and set up savings for the future. Premier Health Care Management, which owns and operates nine skilled nursing facilities with 961 beds in southwestern Ohio, is using the state’s Commercial Property […]
In the face of the changing payment landscape, skilled nursing providers can’t afford to put off data collection. In fact, there’s a lot of information gathering they must be doing now to adapt to value-based payments, Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI), the rise of Medicare Advantage (MA), and a host of other changes, Leah […]
With the aging population and the expansion of all kinds of senior living settings, smart technology has frequently been identified as a way to make residents’ and providers’ lives easier. But all too often, commercially available tech isn’t designed with seniors’ needs in mind, one researcher noted — and it’s high time that both residents […]
The use of telehealth services is commonly floated as a way to improve care and reduce health care spending at skilled nursing facilities, particularly rural ones. But there are several factors that drive the effect of telehealth on medical spending, and in practice, spending will drop only in specific situations, according to an opinion piece […]
A new partnership aims to give skilled nursing facilities a leg up in preventing readmissions by facilitating the transmission of patient data in as close to real time as possible. If successful, it could boost resident quality of life — and help SNFs win back some of the 2% of Medicare reimbursements that the Centers […]
A long-term care (LTC) community plays host to residents, clinicians and, at times, family members, and with that variety comes a potentially dizzying array of technological considerations ranging from nurse call systems to video surveillance. But there are some distinctive trends in the LTC space for tech and devices, according to a Tuesday webinar from […]
A new company from HealthSwap Advisors is looking to bring transparency and efficiencies to the buying and selling of health care bed licenses. Launched last year, the Bed License Exchange is a marketplace that allows investors and operators to buy and sell these licenses in a confidential, auction-style platform. “Up until this point, bed license availability […]
A recent vendor-funded study showed that passive monitoring technology could bring savings to skilled nursing operators — and at least one operator agrees. The Allure Group, which owns six skilled nursing facilities in New York, is in the process of implementing contact-free continuous monitoring (CFCM) from EarlySense in all of its facilities. “Remote monitoring is […]
When picturing the best setting for a thriving, well-lived life, most people won’t imagine a nursing home. The skilled nursing facility of the future can change that, however, with a strong technological base that facilitates connectivity for both residents and medical personnel. “A building requires a foundation,” Michael Skaff, chief information officer at Jewish Senior […]
The average post-acute care (PAC) facility in the U.S. could increase its profits by 13% and its revenue by 22% by installing contact-free continuous monitoring (CFCM) in just some of its existing beds, according to a white paper from consulting firm Frost & Sullivan (F&S) The Israel-based medical device company EarlySense, which provides contact-free and continuous […]
Skilled nursing operators are facing increased incentives to collaborate with providers across the care continuum, and electronic health record (EHR) software is often identified as a potential solution. But such a strategy can only work if every provider in a given chain of care uses the same software, which can create barriers both for SNFs […]