Telemedicine in a Nursing Home

One of the most practical applications of uses of telemedicine is within the nursing home. Specifically, telemedicine can reduce precautionary readmissions to the ER or hospital, saving nursing homes from costly penalties.

A consistent problem for nursing homes is readmission to a hospital after a patient complications, illness or discomfort. A majority of nursing homes do not have a physician available 24/7. If a patient has an issue at night, they will likely have to seek medical attention from outside the nursing home. During this critical moment, nursing homes will likely readmit the patient to the ER or hospital without a doctor’s consultation, hoping to help a patient immediately all while avoiding future malpractice claims.

The problem with this readmission is the penalties that can accompany it. As of October 2018, payers will begin to penalize nursing homes for readmitting their patients to the hospital past a certain threshold. Additionally, with every readmission past the threshold, nursing homes will see their ratings drop, ultimately leading to fewer referrals and less revenue.

Realistically, nursing homes cannot have a doctor on-call every day and all hours of the day. Hiring a permanent physician is costly and unfeasible for a nursing home’s bottom line. The most practical and cost effective remedy is implementation of telemedicine.

With telemedicine, a nursing home can get their patient immediate care via a live streaming video conference, allowing a doctor to assess the patient without readmission to the hospital. Using telemedicine, nursing homes can avoid the costly penalties associated with readmission, all while maintaining patient care.

Built with nursing homes in mind, EHI has developed a telecart, equipped with all the necessary medical tools to help a doctor make the correct prognosis.

Visit our website to learn about how telemedicine can help your office.