SNFs get new guide book for using telemedicine to evaluate change of status

February 6, 2019

A guide out this month gives skilled nursing leaders more direction on the use of telemedicine to better treat residents.

Experts with the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and several other institutions, compiled the guidance using research, experience and expertise from a long-term care-focused telemedicine workgroup. They emphasize that telemedicine should be integrated into residents’ primary care, and delivered by clinicians with competency in skilled care, according to the analysis, which was published in February’s Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.

Dr. Suzanne Gillespie
Suzanne Gillespie, M.D.

“There’s been a lot of evolution in technology and how telemedicine can be used in different settings across the healthcare continuum, and the post-acute and long-term care professional world has worked to try and understand how this can be used most effectively in nursing homes,” said Suzanne Gillespie, M.D., an associate professor of geriatrics at the University of Rochester. “What we found was that people were really looking for some guidance in how to use this technology to advance access and quality of care nursing facilities.”

View Standards for the Use of Telemedicine for Evaluation and Management of Resident Change of Condition in the Nursing Home.