1 min read

5 Ways Telehealth is Changing the Long-Term Care Game

By Prime Care Tech Marketing on Fri, Mar 26, 2021 @ 10:45 AM

With COVID-19 came the accelerated implementation of telehealth to all kinds of providers, including skilled nursing facilities. Understandably, changing the way you provide care is well...big change, at a time when staffing is stretched. But, what if telehealth could expand your staff. Remote patient monitoring is one example.

Whether or not the time is right for change at your facility, telehealth demands consideration. Having show proven benefits during the pandemic, one thing is clear. It is here to stay.

So, here are the top 5 ways telehealth is benefiting caregivers in an at-a-glance infographic.

5-ways-telehealth-is-changing

If you're not using it, maybe it's time to reconsider. Full details can be found in this cdc.gov article – Healthcare Facilities: Managing Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

 

Topics: telehealth
3 min read

A Quick Guide: The Care for Our Seniors Act

By Prime Care Tech Marketing on Fri, Mar 19, 2021 @ 01:08 PM

AHCA/NCAL's participation in the Senate Finance Committee hearing, 'A National Tragedy: COVID-19 in the Nation’s Nursing Homes,' drew focus to the Care for Our Seniors Act, introduced in a press release and member webinar this past Monday.

In his testimonial, Chief Medical Officer David Gifford, MD, explained how reimbursement gaps between residents' cost of care and what providers are paid directly impact a nursing home's workforce. Workforce is just one of the four core areas for reform in the act.

Additional points made by Dr. Gifford to lawmakers included these:

  • The most meaningful way to improve care is by focusing on infection control and increasing workforce availability
  • Addressing poor nursing home care means incentivizing better care and increasing the number of staff at each bedside 
  • If nursing homes can't improve with appropriate assistance, they shouldn't continue to operate

Most importantly, he stressed that because LTC providers rely almost entirely on government reimbursement, their support is needed to make it happen. 

What is the Care for Our Seniors Act?

In short, AHCA/NCAL and LeadingAge are joining forces to help long-term care (LTC) providers reform in four major categories:

  • Clinical enhance the quality of care
  • Workforce strengthen and support frontline caregivers
  • Oversight improve systems to be more resident-driven
  • Structural modernize for resident dignity and safety

Why Now?

As evidenced by AHCA/NCAL's participation in the hearing, COVID-19 shone a light on long-standing challenges for LTC to include:

  • Workforce shortages
  • Aging physical plants
  • Underfunded government reimbursements

Now that the industry has our government's attention, the hope is that it will receive the funding needed to support these critical reform initiatives.

what Does reform really mean?

Upon securing government funding, AHCA/NCAL and LeadingAge hope to reform the LTC industry as explained below. 

Clinical Goals

Equip each nursing home facility with:

  • Enhanced Infection Control Preventionist 
  • 24-Hour RN
  • Minimum PPE Supply (30-day average conventional use)

Workforce Goals

Implement a multi-phase approach to supply, attract and retain facility workforces, including:

  • Student loan forgiveness and scholarships
  • Tax credits for licensed LTC health care workers
  • Housing and childcare assistance
  • National, LTC-targeted campaign to increase the supply of nurse faculty/RNs
  • Pathway for temporary nurse aides to become CNAs
  • End to CNA training ban
  • Expedited LPN-to-RN bridge programs

Oversight goals

  • Improve surveys
  • Address chronic poor performing facilities
  • Monitoring customer satisfaction of residents and families

Structural goals

  • Upgrade outdated HVAC
  • Drive national study and funding to support a transition to private rooms

What's Next

AHCA/NCAL and LeadingAge can continue to use opportunities like last week's Senate Finance Committee hearing to advocate. So, get ready for reform. Think about how changes in surveys and the addition of customer satisfaction to star ratings might change your world. If you don't have ready access to clinical, staffing and census data for monitoring performance, we can help. 



Care for our senior act Resources

 

Topics: primeVIEW COVID-19 Care for Our Seniors Act
1 min read

4/14 WEBINAR: SMB CYBER SECURITY ESSENTIALS WITH WILLIS TOWERS WATSON

By Prime Care Tech Marketing on Tue, Mar 16, 2021 @ 12:48 PM

Want to Avoid Cyber Sharks? Swim With The School.

Join Willis Towers Watson and Prime Care Tech for this April 14 webinar to get advice on cyber security essentials for small businesses.

Cost of cyber attacks

The cost of a cyber security event can be well into six figures – no matter what size your business is. The top causes...1) human error and 2) ransomware.

Industries impacted

The below industries reported the most cyber claims, but truly, any industry is vulnerable. 

  1. Healthcare
  2. IT and telecom
  3. Insurance
  4. Retail and wholesale
  5. Manufacturing

How can smaller businesses cost-effectively protect?

We've brought together experts in cyber insurance and technology to tell you. Here's our agenda:

  • Trending cyber risks
  • Introduction to cyber insurance
  • Must-have IT protection
  • Supplementing IT with cyber insurance

Webinar takeaways

Simple safeguards to reduce risk can include employee training, work laptop safety, safeguarding sensitive information, and cyber liability policies.

Get schooled on avoiding cyber sharks!

 
Topics: cyber security cyber insurance small business medium business SMB
2 min read

CMS Updates Nursing Home Visitation Guidance

By Prime Care Tech Marketing on Sat, Mar 13, 2021 @ 10:00 AM

This week, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated nursing home guidance on visitation. With roughly 80% of residents and 55% of staff fully vaccinated1, they have okayed visitation unless nursing homes fall into these COVID-19 categories:

  • County positive is greater than 10% and less than 70% of residents vaccinated
  • There are confirmed resident infections
  • There are residents in quarantine

CMS also stressed the reminder to follow the Core Principles of COVID-19 Infection Control. Finally, CMS reiterated compassionate care visits should continue to be allowed under any circumstance.

What Constitutes Compassionate Care?

It is not just when a resident is in the last stages of life and can include situations where the resident is showing deterioration in mental health.

  • Resident was living with family before recent admission and struggling with the change.
  • Resident is grieving after a recently passed friend or family member.
  • Resident needs help and encouragement with eating or drinking and is experiencing weight loss or dehydration.
  • When a resident who used to talk to others, is experiencing emotional distress, seldom speaking, and crying frequently.

Just keep contact as limited as you can, and again, try to adhere to the Core Principles of COVID-19 Infection Control.

Resources to Assist Nursing Homes with Visitation

In case you missed them last week, again, here are resources to help:

Source: 1) NIC.org, Executive Survey - Wave 23 Summary of Insights and Findings (February 22 to March 7, 2021)
Topics: COVID-19 Visitation
2 min read

CareChoice Selects primeVIEW to Optimize Non-Profit Senior Communities

By Prime Care Tech Marketing on Fri, Mar 12, 2021 @ 10:16 AM

CareChoice Cooperative Selects primeVIEW Dashboard to Help Non-Profit Senior Care Communities Optimize Operational Performance

[PRWeb] Duluth, GA, March 11, 2021 – Prime Care Technologies, Inc. today announced CareChoice Cooperative has adopted the primeVIEW decision-driven dashboard, providing its 18 members representing 31 non-profit communities with a powerful tool to sharpen operational performance. Utilizing the collective, actionable data in primeVIEW equips operators to make proactive, expedited decisions that directly impact resident care.

Integrating and aggregating data directly from electronic health records and other core information systems, primeVIEW offers a single analytics dashboard that transforms the way organizations make decisions. One simple login delivers a multi-dimensional view of facility performance, empowering leaders to drive productivity using critical benchmarks, rankings and trends.

CareChoice and Prime Care will also work together on member enhancements to primeVIEW that surgically address the needs of non-profits. These enhancements include a cost-of-care tool, clinical trending visualizations, a clinical risk scoring matrix and the ability to document case management.

“CareChoice is building a 'next generation' post-acute care organization designed to support nursing facilities and related services in value-based payment arrangements with market partners," said Bill Knutson, CareChoice CEO. We see this integrated data platform as an essential tool that will drive performance improvement and advance development of the new CareChoice Clinically Integrated Network.”

PrimeVIEW is a cloud-based application that brings together census, staffing, revenue, clinical, and Five-Star quality ratings into one decision-making platform. Data is constantly refreshed, providing near real-time views of operational performance.

“CareChoice has a mission to provide financial and operational benefits to its members through innovation and collaboration,” said Prime Care Technologies CEO Jim Hoey. “Putting our primeVIEW decision dashboard into the hands of its facility operators delivers on this promise.”

About Prime Care Technologies
Since 2003, Prime Care Technologies has provided senior care operators with integrated business intelligence and software solutions, driving proactive decision-making and the highest quality care. Based in Atlanta with 175 employees and 200+ healthcare/IT partnerships, its technology-driven solutions are installed in 6,500+ facilities. With deep multi-vendor interoperability expertise, including the integration of 70+ healthcare applications and 3,500+ EDI payers, Prime Care Technologies offers the leading data warehouse in post-acute care. Learn more at primecaretech.com.

About CareChoice Cooperative
Organized in 1996, CareChoice Cooperative is the nation’s first senior care cooperative formed by nonprofit, mission-driven providers of aging services. There are 21 Member organizations in CareChoice representing 43 nursing homes primarily located in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan region. In addition to nursing facilities, many Members offer senior living options such as assisted living, independent living and memory care units. Some Members also operate Medicare-certified Home Health Care, therapy and hospice programs in their communities. Learn more at carechoicemn.org.

Topics: primeVIEW CareChoice Non-Profit

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