In the United States, it is estimated that there are approximately 2.3 million senior men and women living in nursing homes or residential care facilities. Some of these individuals reside in a nursing home because they have been discharged from a hospital and need additional medical attention before they can be released to go back home. Others live in the facility for an extended amount of time because they require nursing home level care.
Residents in nursing homes and residential facilities receive their medical care from a variety of sources, such as doctors and nurses that visit the facility on a regular basis and use some type of electronic health records (EHR) system to provide patient updates while also communicating with other healthcare professionals about changes in the resident’s status. Some residents are never discharged from the facility because they are not expected to get any better or worse, and therefore, no medical updates are ever provided to anyone other than staff members that are caring for them.
Here are Some Benefits of Having a Medical Software for Residential Care Homes
- Helps in Monitoring Patients
Medical software for residential care homes helps in monitoring patients closely. It provides a platform where healthcare professionals can share reports of their ongoing observations of the patient’s condition with each other and update them about the changes they have seen. This way, all members will have information about the course of treatment being followed for each person who has been admitted to the facility and they will be working together to provide the best possible healthcare for each resident.
- Provides Easier Communication
When the medical staff is using a dedicated electronic health records system, it makes it much easier for them to communicate with each other about updates on patients’ conditions. Updates are shared among all members of the team involved in providing care rather than being sent only to the primary doctor who originally admitted that patient into the facility. This way, team members will have access to all information about a person’s status and they will be able to work together as a whole to provide better care for each resident.
- Facilitates Coordination of Care
When everyone is working from one platform, it becomes easier to coordinate the care being provided for each patient. The physician who initially admitted the patient into the facility will know when there are any changes in that person’s status, but when other healthcare professionals are involved, they will also have access to all of these reports so they can put together a plan for future improvements in each resident’s condition.
- Allows for Greater Interaction with the Patient
When members of the healthcare team are using a specific electronic health records system, each person can interact with the patient more often because they will have access to reports about that person’s status and care. Healthcare professionals can monitor how residents are doing after certain procedures or medications have been given, and they will know when to update reports in order to make sure everyone knows what’s going on with the patient and how he or she is doing.
Medical software for residential care homes can increase the quality of patient care by facilitating communication between members of the healthcare team, facilitating coordination of care among multiple members, and allowing for greater interaction with patients so they will receive better treatment.