DocChat has the potential revolutionize nursing home healthcare, solving many of the persistent problems plaguing nursing home systems today. A few of which include: stopping the CMS from bleeding red on readmission rates and extended hospital stays that could be handled in-house, saving nursing homes valuable staff resources, and preventing elderly patients from uncomfortable transport and increased germ exposure of an ER environment.
How do we know this? Nursing homes are where DocChat all started, and we have made a substantial difference at the facilities we work with.
Cutting Costs into Fractions
Nursing home patients are often sent to the ER even if their care could have been handled at the facility. These ER visits often extend into days, each costing Medicare tens of thousands of dollars. These patients are frequently readmitted shortly thereafter for the same issue, costing even more. In 2016, the CMS will be penalizing hospitals and nursing homes alike 2% of these readmission costs, and in 2017, the penalty will increase to 3%. In this scenario, no one wins. When a nursing home joins DocChat, a host of benefits ensue, including fractional healthcare costs per patient, drastically reduced readmission rates and 24/7 access to knowledgeable medical professionals. Nursing homes that utilize DocChat would also have to send fewer staff members to accompany elderly patients to hospitals, saving countless time on documentation as the frequency of these trips would be radically reduced. These changes would positively alter the state of nursing homes, as well as the congestion of emergency rooms across the country.
Benefits for Nursing Home Patients
Reducing costs, while very important, pales in comparison to the welfare DocChat can provide to nursing home patients themselves. DocChat helps each resident feel comfortable, safe and well cared for in the luxury of their own room. DocChat services in nursing homes provide effective triage, vastly cutting down on the number of ER referrals by connecting the patient in need with one of our trained physicians for a one-on-one, on-site consultation. Emergency rooms and hospitals in general are dangerous environments for people with compromised immune systems, such as the elderly.
So even though we mentioned that DocChat can immensely reduce costs and red-tape, the safety, quality care, and peace of mind that DocChat ensures each elderly resident is truly priceless.
Lack of Resources
It is not uncommon for there to only be one resident physician per nursing home. As a result, this physician is on-call 24/7, which does not harbor a sustainable work-life balance. DocChat allows physicians’ flexibility, with the ability to take nights, holidays, high volume times, or any requested time off.
Benefit of Using DocChat
- DocChat has experience! This is where DocChat all began – in nursing homes
- Convenient and consistent care 24/7/365
- Reduce ER utilization thus decrease costs
- Enhance quality of care by covering after-hours and holidays for physicians
- No wait time in contaminated ER – see a physician in 10 minutes or less
- No appointments necessary – hassle-free medical care
- No travel time or costs
- Unlimited follow-up messaging for 7 days after consult to ensure proper care
- Necessary prescriptions sent to a local pharmacy
- Security – all information is encrypted and secured by Google servers
