Technology for independence: this multilevel seniors community has found telemedicine useful for home care, assisted living, and nursing home care

Nursing Homes, Dec, 2003 by Sally Huston

Imagine, though, what an assisted living nurse could do from a provider station. The nurse could make regularly scheduled and on-demand video visits, and check the Web-based reports from multiple monitoring stations from multiple sites. Each state has different nursing requirements for assisted living, and telehealth may be helpful in providing the flexibility needed to deal with them.

At OPRS, we are trying out another new use o four telehealth equipment. We have placed a station at a long-term care campus that is a three-hour drive from our corporate office in Columbus. Our director of quality assurance uses the video unit to visit residents at the nursing home and assist in the development of fall risk assessments. This will save travel time, and provide a higher level of quality assurance and immediate teaching opportunities for staff.

Conclusion

We are excited about potential uses of technology in healthcare, and know that we have to keep being creative in trying new methods. We have found that video telehealth is easily accepted and can foster good relationships, as well as excellent quality of care at many levels of senior housing and service.

Sally Huston is clinical director for Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services, Senior Independence program, Columbus, Ohio. For further information, phone (614) 888-7800, e-mail sally@corp.oprs.org, or visit www. seniorindependence.org. To comment on this article, please send an e-mail to huston1203@ nursinghomesmagazine.com.