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Eldercare Review | Wednesday, May 03, 2023
Assisted living communities can benefit from telehealth by saving money, increasing resident satisfaction, and improving care delivery.
FREMONT, CA: The use of telehealth in independent living and assisted living communities is probably influenced by the relative independence and health of senior living residents compared to other long-term care recipients, but current trends show these communities have opportunities to benefit from telehealth in terms of cost savings, resident satisfaction, and improved care delivery.
Only 14 percent of respondents in a national survey of 7,000 physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals by the West Health Institute in San Diego reported using telehealth to treat older adults in assisted living and independent living communities, compared to 47 percent in skilled nursing facilities and outpatient clinics, 33 percent for home-based care, and 53 percent in hospitals/inpatient facilities.
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Advantages of adopting telehealth: Assisted living could benefit from telehealth. Establishing telehealth in independent living and assisted living homes is more challenging since residents frequently have their own healthcare providers. This also implies that the commercial case for telehealth promotion by assisted or independent living facilities is less obvious. In contrast to residents in other long-term care settings, where an attendant or nurse often starts the visit on behalf of the elderly, residents in independent living and assisted living also initiate encounters with providers. Instead of bringing about a systemic change at the level of the organizations, this leaves it up to each older person in assisted living and independent living facilities to utilize telehealth.
Such communities might engage with local clinicians and health systems to promote more use of telehealth, host educational sessions for citizens on how to utilize telehealth, give technical assistance, and offer a separate area with top-notch equipment for telehealth visits. If they provide transportation to medical visits, these adjustments may lower their transportation expenses, broaden the range of providers available to residents, and boost resident satisfaction.
Gaps in adoption: There is a perception that telehealth is dangerous among healthcare providers. According to studies, more than 60 percent of doctors think that using telehealth with elderly people is risky because of their complicated medical requirements. The poll also revealed that 63 percent of healthcare professionals think that much older people's ability to use telehealth due to physical or cognitive difficulties is unrealistic. Many medical professionals feel that using remote care with elderly patients with complicated medical histories or impairments is unsafe. Infrastructures for telehealth must be created with consideration for these elements. The biggest risk would be if older patients were not included in remote care. According to studies, most professionals believe that patients over a certain age cannot be properly treated by employing telehealth. These results demonstrate the need for improved support, increased education, and specialized guidelines for healthcare professionals to deliver efficient and equitable telehealth to older patients.
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