Six LeadingAge members walked away with top honors during an Excellence in Technology competition sponsored by McKnight's Long-Term Care News in October. Five of the competition’s winners used technology solutions developed by either a CAST Supporter or Business Associate.
The awards recognize notable uses of technology in senior living communities in 5 categories: Innovator of the Year, Quality, Dignity, High Touch/High Tech, and Transitions.
LeadingAge members who earned awards were:
- Jewish Home Lifecare.
- Agapé Senior.
- Arcadia Retirement Residences.
- Archie Hendricks Sr. Skilled Nursing Facility.
- Abramson Center for Jewish Life.
- Chelsea Retirement Community.
CAST members who worked with award winners included:
- CAST Supporter It's Never Too Late.
- CAST Business Associate Panasonic.
- CAST Business Associate PointClickCare.
- CAST Business Associate BAM Labs.
- CAST Business Associate RosieConnect.
Scott Code, aging services technologies manager at CAST, was a judge in the competition’s Transitions category.
Innovator of the Year
Jewish Home Lifecare (JHL) won the top award in the competition’s Innovator of the Year category. JHL implemented a Home Gateway platform from CAST Business Associate Panasonic. The platform uses client televisions for biometric monitoring, health self-assessment surveys and educational videos.
Clients receive a video prompt on their television that reminds them to take their vital signs and answer disease-specific questions. This data is then transmitted via Bluetooth to Panasonic's “Smartcare” portal. A JHL telehealth nurse monitors the data and follows up accordingly.
The technology helped JHL reduce hospitalizations and emergency room visits by 40% among high-risk underserved people in New York City, according to McKnight’s.
Quality Awards
Agapé Senior, a network of residential and health-related companies with services across South Carolina, received a Silver Award in the Quality category. An automated medication dispensing system has helped Agapé Senior eliminate waste, save time and money and improve patient safety, says McKnight’s.
Arcadia Retirement Residences in Honolulu, HI, won Bronze for integrating its electronic health records with clinical and financial elements that also allow custom reporting.
A Certificate of Merit was awarded to Princeton Place, a skilled nursing setting in Albuquerque, NM. Princeton Place uses a resident information system from CAST Business Associate PointClickCare to increase quality of care.
Dignity Awards
Archie Hendricks Sr. Skilled Nursing Facility in Sells, AZ, was awarded Gold in the Dignity category. The community, which is located on the Tohono O'odham Reservation, created a television station to help residents feel part of the nursing home community and their native community.
The nursing center broadcasts culturally relevant and tribal-specific events to all televisions in the care setting. It also uses iPads to facilitate long-distance visits with another care setting for Native Americans.
The Silver Award went to Nebraska-based Vetter Health Services for its work with CAST Supporter It's Never Too Late (iN2L). The Vetter communities are equipped with 35 iN2L systems that have provided more than 40,000 hours of resident engagement in the first half of 2014, says McKnight’s.
Signature HealthCARE received a Certificate of Merit for using Smart Bed Technology by Goodmark Medical and CAST Business Associate BAM Labs. Signature reported that using the beds created an 85.4% decrease in new pressure ulcer development during a 12-week study at 3 care settings.
High Tech/High Touch Awards
The Polisher Researcher Institute at the Abramson Center for Jewish Life in North Wales, PA, won the Gold Award in the High Tech/High Touch category for a new tool called the Match-Quality Indicator. Match-QI uses an Access database system to generate color-coded, graphic reports on whether recreational activities are meeting resident preferences.
During an assessment, resident are asked to rank the level of importance of recreational activities, and to indicate if they have participated in the desired activity more than twice a month. The system helps staff create better care plans, according to McKnight’s.
The Silver Award went to Signature HealthCARE for its use of Smart Bed Technology made by Goodmark Medical and CAST Business Associate BAM Labs.
A Certificate of Merit was awarded to Kentwood Manor in Louisiana for its use of a solution from CAST Business Associate RosieConnect to take vital signs and increase staff time with residents. Another Certificate of Merit went to the Chelsea Retirement Community in Chelsea, MI, for starting an iPad class for residents.