Infection prevention and control has always been an important part of working in the long-term care sector, but now, in the midst of a global pandemic, it’s crucial to understand infection prevention and control (IPC) so you can protect the residents and workers of your facility.
On average, “[it’s] estimated that 1 to 3 million serious infections occur every year in nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, [and] assisted living facilities” — and this estimation was before the rapidly-spreading coronavirus became a recognized infection that’s quick to affect those who are most vulnerable to it, like the elderly (CDC). In fact, since the pandemic, it’s been found that the coronavirus “…has affected older people disproportionately, especially those living in long-term care facilities” (WHO/2019-nCoV/Policy_Brief/Long-term_Care/2020.1).
When you know you have to protect residents and workers but there’s so much stress and overwhelm surrounding you, not to mention regularly-changing pandemic guidelines to keep up with, it can be hard to know where to start. However, you have to start somewhere because “[a]s demonstrated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a strong infection prevention and control (IPC) program is critical to protect both residents and healthcare personnel (HCP)” (CDC).
How You Can Protect Those in Your Senior Living Facility
Managing the spread of infection is a big responsibility, and the way you approach it can be the difference between life and death for those in your facility, but tracking it is no easy task. Fortunately, you don’t have to track it by yourself because technology has improved how facilities manage infection prevention and control.
When you have EHR software for your senior living facility, you can take advantage of newly added features, such as the IPC dashboard. With access to this dashboard, you can analyze real-time patient data from facilities and communities to quickly and accurately detect, understand, and report infections.
Make a Difference
You know that what goes on in your healthcare organization ultimately affects your success as a business (because, after all, you are a business). So if you fail to manage the spread of infection at your long-term care facility, people will notice, attention will be brought to your careless, and your reputation will be affected, which could lead to you having to close your doors.
You can prevent that from happening, though, when you seize the opportunity to make a difference by being proactive and choosing EHR software solutions for your long-term care facility. When you invest in a tool that allows you to become part of the solution, not the problem, you can save lives and help your community. If you do that, you can make a difference for both your residents and healthcare personnel, and you may even bolster your reputation as a long-term care facility.
The Benefits of an IPC Dashboard
The CDC recommends that “facilities should assign at least one individual with training in IPC to provide on-site management of their COVID-19 prevention and response activities because of the breadth of activities for which an IPC program is responsible, including developing IPC policies and procedures, performing infection surveillance, providing competency-based training of HCP, and auditing adherence to recommended IPC practices.”
With use of an EHR software that includes an IPC dashboard, you can do all of that, helping to protect all of those in your senior living facility, from residents to healthcare personnel, and anyone else who enters your facility.
The IPC dashboard includes the following capabilities:
- Documentation that lets you attach evaluations, labs, and treatment orders to a case, making everything accessible from one place.
- Guidance that keeps you up-to-date with the latest recommendations on what procedures to follow and how to best monitor progress.
- Analysis that shows you the latest trends and patterns in infection data, helping you to catch outbreaks faster and make administrative decisions.
- Updates that happen in real-time and allow you to communicate important information to everyone at your facility.
Control the Spread of Coronavirus with EHR Software for Your Senior Living Facility
Collain Healthcare know that your residents and healthcare personnel need the right tools to help them manage the spread of infection at your facility and in your community. That’s why we’ve updated our EHR software to include an EPC dashboard. By using EHR software like ours that has an IPC dashboard available, you can contribute to the health and well-being of your community, and keep those in your senior living facility protected. If you’re not using EHR software for your senior living facility yet, request a free demo today to get started.
