Metropolitan Jewish Health System Awards Electronic Medical Records Contract To SigmaCare
New York, NY - After an intense 18-month selection process, a proven commitment to clinical quality earned SigmaCare a contract to deploy electronic medical records (EMR) throughout Metropolitan Jewish Health System's (Metropolitan) skilled nursing facilities.
Metropolitan, a nationally recognized nonprofit organization, operates Metropolitan Jewish Geriatric Center, Shorefront Jewish Geriatric Center, and Menorah Home and Hospital. All of the facilities are active participants in the Advancing Excellence in America's Nursing Homes campaign, underscoring their commitment to improving the quality of life for residents and staff in America's nursing homes and focusing on quality improvement and self-regulation.
"The Nursing Home Quality Initiative is designed to promote excellence in skilled nursing facilities and care giving," said Eli S. Feldman, Metropolitan's president and CEO. "SigmaCare will help us to do that and more because their company is focused on the clinical side of long-term care, not just electronic medical records."
With 15 years of health information technology experience, SigmaCare takes a unique "big picture" approach to implementing EMR in skilled nursing facilities.
"In each Metropolitan facility, we will use a specific sequence of stages and a proprietary approach to 'operational transformation' that fosters collaboration and helps each facility successfully transition from paper-based processes to point-of-care technology," said Stephen Pacicco, CEO of SigmaCare.
"Our proven approach promotes early staff adoption of technology, which will help Metropolitan's facilities connect the dots among disciplines and departments, as well as with external providers and stakeholders. This integrated solution is designed to improve documentation rates, clinical outcomes and financial savings."
To ensure their customers are successful, SigmaCare also provides EMR software training to state regulatory surveyors. This development has yielded efficiencies that make planned and unplanned visits easier for both reviewers and for facility staff. According to SigmaCare research, long-term care facilities using the SigmaCare solution report that regulatory surveys are taking 25% to 50% less time. More importantly, since SigmaCare began training state regulatory surveyors, the same research reports that none of the facilities has received accreditation survey deficiencies attached to medical records.
The user-friendly, intuitive technology is easy to learn. This fact, combined with SigmaCare's novel approach to training and installation, accounts for extremely high adoption rates by clinical staff. In some cases, within one week of going live, Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs) on average are documenting 98% of their assignments on time, and LPNs average 99% on-time documentation of medication administration.
The company's intense focus on outcomes is evident in notable metrics of improved patient care. Some SigmaCare clients report an 84% reduction in adverse drug events, a 30% decrease in falls, and a 43% drop in pressure ulcers.
Improved quality indicators across all facilities are attributed to SigmaCare's automated clinical workflow. Some clinicians report having more time to spend at the bedside, make rounds, and update and review care plans. With up-to-date information on patient medications and better communication between disciplines, SigmaCare research shows that staff members are able to respond quickly and appropriately to ensure patient safety.
Financial outcomes and return on investment (ROI) are equally impressive, according to SigmaCare projections. In several cases, SigmaCare skilled nursing facilities report ROIs of up to 450%. For a 180-bed facility, these results may reflect annual savings of almost $155,000 in administrative expenses, including reduction of agency nurses, overtime and staff through attrition; decreased pharmacy costs of more than $143,000; and yearly revenue increases of $870,000.
SOURCE: Metropolitan Jewish Health System