Well over a million older adults are living in nursing homes today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As Americans are living longer, the demand for long term care facilities is expected to grow. Experts predict a population of 3 million nursing home residents by the year 2030.

But it’s not the number of residents that poses a challenge to LTC facilities. It’s their unique health needs. The CDC says nursing home residents fall at twice the rate of seniors living in the community. Why does this happen? Because LTC residents tend to be more frail, have more health conditions, and take more medications than older adults in the general population.

Own your ship. This is one of our company principles, for one simple reason. It is the single characteristic that separates the best from everyone else in any industry, in any walk of life, in any sport, and in any era for that matter. Why is that? 

Adverse events are part of serving seniors, pure and simple.

Whether the resident is in your community for short term rehab or to spend their last days, they expect to receive great care. But the reality is, residents fall. They develop skin issues. And family members are processing these changes.

But enough of the dark and gloomy. We simply have to face reality and deal with it.

Are you doing everything you can to prevent falls at your facility? You’ve implemented physical changes such as handrails, non-skid floors, and lower bed heights. You’ve educated your nurses about fall prevention strategies. You properly document incidents in your EHR.

These are important fundamentals, but there’s more you can do to help protect your residents and your staff from falls. You can prevent more incidents if the right processes are in place. The following warning signs indicate your fall prevention strategy isn’t as robust as it should be.

EHR systems are great tools for many different purposes in your facilities, but they aren’t a magic bullet for everything. Even the best tools have blindspots. Here are three gaps inherent in EHR systems that you will need to cover with additional tools.

There’s a lot at stake for assisted living facilities.

At HealthCap, our philosophy has always been that the best claim is the claim you never have to file. So risk prevention has been a real emphasis of ours. We visit nearly every member on their premises every year to help them deliver better quality to their residents, families, and employees. The visits involve a mix of consultation, data gathering, and analytics. As a by-product, we help reduce claims.