The Manor becomes first nursing home in state to join health information network

Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. (VITL) today announced that The Manor, Inc. nursing home in Morrisville is the first long term care facility in Vermont to be connected to the state’ s health information network. Being connected to the network, managed by VITL, will enable the nursing home staff to receive lab test results and other patient data more quickly and possibly prevent costly hospital admissions.
‘ When lab test results were previously faxed from the hospital, they were often not sent until a day after the test was completed,’ said Krystina Laychack, RN, director of nursing. ‘ Now through VITL’ s network, the results are available in the nursing home’ s electronic health record system within seconds of the test being completed at the hospital.’
The faster turnaround means that The Manor’ s staff can begin addressing issues more quickly if a lab test is abnormal. The patient’ s physician can be called while the doctor’ s office is still open, and the doctor can issue orders that the nursing staff can immediately implement before the situation gets out of control and requires a trip to the hospital emergency department.
‘ The state health information network can help providers make more informed decisions about patient care at the point of care because they have all the information needed right at their fingertips,’ said John K. Evans, president and CEO of VITL. ‘ For skilled nursing facilities like The Manor, having this information not only leads to better care for seniors, but avoids significant costs to our health system, including unnecessary visits to the hospital emergency room or re-admissions to the hospital.’
Another example cited by Laychack has to do with many patients at the nursing home being on blood thinning medication which needs to be monitored frequently and often needs to be adjusted. ‘ By knowing lab test results right away, if corrective action is needed then it can be taken at the nursing home rather than sending the patient to the hospital, which can be very disruptive and upsetting to an elderly person.’
Building these types of interfaces enables health care providers with electronic record systems (EHRs) such as The Manor, Inc. to send and receive patient data across different health care organizations and to contribute valuable data to the state’ s health information network.