Why Nursing Homes Need Telemedicine
Telemedicine has become of vital importance to nursing homes.
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It greatly expands the access that residents have to physicians or advanced practice nurses they might not otherwise see. Learn more about our team of physicians, specialists, and behavioral health services using state of the art telemedicine in the infographic below:
More than 10% of patients admitted to a skilled nursing facility for post-acute care never see a doctor or advanced practice nurse during their stay
Telemedicine Saves Lives
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Post-acute nursing home patients* who don’t see physician or advanced practice nurse are 2X more likely to be readmitted to the hospital or die within 30 days
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Without a doctor visit
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Rehospitalized: 28%
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Mortality: 14%
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With a doctor visit
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Rehospitalized: 14%
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Mortality: 7%
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The median nursing home stay for post-acute patients who never see a physician is 11 days
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How Long Do Residents Wait To See A Doctor?
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Medicare requires residents to see a physician within 30 days of admission
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But, that policy is a holdover from days when patients were primarily long term residents in need of custodial care
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20% of hospitalized patients are discharged to nursing homes for post-acute care
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These patients need more medical intervention than long term residents
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Physical therapy
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Intravenous antibiotics
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Skilled wound care
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On average patients wait 3.2 days to see a physician
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In rural nursing homes, the wait stretches to 8.1 days
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Missing or delayed medical care for nursing home residents leads to poor outcomes — How can we better serve this vulnerable population?
Nursing Home Residents Need In-House Medical Care
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Nursing homes with advanced practice nurses on staff reduce hospitalizations
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In a one study, adding an APRN to nursing home staff led to
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All causes:
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33% fewer hospitalizations
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33% lower costs
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Avoidable hospitalizations:
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48% fewer hospitalizations
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40% lower costs
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If APRNs worked in every nursing home in the U.S., Medicare costs could be reduced by nearly $2.8 billion a year
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Early Detection Is Key
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Many health issues can be treated in the nursing home if detected early
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Acute conditions, such as
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Pneumonia
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Urinary tract infections
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Severe dehydration
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Flare-up of chronic conditions
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Congestive heart failure
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Uncontrolled diabetes
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COPD & Asthma
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APRNs help to recognize signs of infection and improve the recognition skills of other staff
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Vital Sign Monitoring
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Taking vital signs manually takes about 4 minutes
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Documenting readings can take an additional 12 minutes
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Manual vital sign monitoring can lead to errors
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Multiplication errors
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Data entry errors
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Illegible handwriting
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Delayed documentation
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Automated monitors cut the whole process down to less than a minute — and eliminates the risk of human error
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Readings are more consistent over time
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Automatically added to electronic medical records
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Staff are notified when readings are outside prescribed parameters
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Wireless monitors allow nurses to collect and document readings in just 2 minutes
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For a 100 bed facility, wireless monitors could reduce costs by nearly $100,000 per year
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Nursing staff have more time to focus on patients, rather than paperwork
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Patients receive more immediate interventions, reducing readmissions
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The Role Of Telemedicine
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Telemedicine enables all nursing homes to provide in-house medical care
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Small or rural facilities: Scalable for facilities that can’t employ onsite clinical staff
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Large facilities: Augments onsite clinical staff for round-the-clock care
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83% of health issues can be treated by a telemedicine physician working with on-site nursing staff
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Reducing hospitalization to 17% of acute encounters
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Most Common Diagnoses
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UTIs
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Bleeding
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Pain
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Dislodged catheters
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Vomiting
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Pneumonia
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Seizures
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Hypoglycemia
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Chest pain
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Hypotension
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Preventing hospitalizations keeps patients in the nursing home, increasing occupancy and helping your bottom line
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Through telehealth services, nursing homes can reduce hospital readmissions by as much as 70%
Introducing TapestryHealth
We provide nursing home residents with bedside access to a team of physicians, specialists, and behavioral health services using state-of-the-art technology
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Vitals Management: Digital vital sign monitoring automatically notifies nurse practitioner if readings are outside prescribed parameters — identifying problems early and in-house
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Dedicated Care: A dedicated clinician is assigned to every facility, providing day-to-day care and building relationships with patients and staff for better long term care
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24/7 Clinical Care: A clinician is available virtually to respond to resident needs 24/7 — conditions can be treated early, preventing rehospitalization and improving outcomes
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Tapestry Team: An on-site nurse practitioner works with the support of a full-scope, multi-specialty medical and behavioral health team
Improve your nursing home’s medical care with Tapestry Health
Sources:
https://www.inquirer.com/health/penn-nursing-home-doctor-death-readmission-20190401.html
https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05458
https://academic.oup.com/innovateage/article/2/2/igy017/5049201
https://www.kff.org/medicare/state-indicator/medicare-spending-by-residence/