6 Features Every Assisted Living Facility Needs in a Rehab Therapy EHR

One could make a valid argument that when you combine the care needs of patients and residents with the daily tasks required of providers and administrators, few healthcare entities are forced to juggle more and multitask better than senior living facilities.

According to one recent study funded by the National Investment Center for Senior Housing and Care (NIC), in fact, the average assisted living resident suffers from more than 14 chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, and so on.¹

Helping seniors manage and treat such an array of conditions can be a struggle in today’s senior living environment where administrators are continually facing staffing and reimbursement challenges.

Do you know that your Net Health Therapy for Skilled Nursing EHR software can also be used within the Senior Living/ALF environment? Read our whitepaper to learn more.

These challenges often trickle down to rehab therapy teams, whether in-house or part of a contract-therapy company serving SNFs and ALFs. And, they force you as rehab therapists to do more with less – to operate leaner while offering the same (or better) care to seniors.

Sound impossible? It can certainly feel that way.

But, with the technological tools available in today’s market – offering features for boosting efficiency, productivity, engagement and outcomes throughout the department – the key to success can often be found literally at your fingertips.

That is, if you’re using an EHR solution that’s designed to specifically address the challenges of the senior living sector of rehab therapy.

How do you know if your senior living software makes the cut? Look for the following features:

1. Digitized Patient Intake Process

Paper intake and onboarding processes can take days or even weeks to complete, placing an expensive burden on administrative teams and delaying care and treatments that residents need. This includes referral management and gaining consents from remote powers of attorney (POAs). The best EHR solutions for senior living facilities will have streamlined this “paperwork” through digital tools and workflows that cut this process from days to minutes.

2. Streamlined Insurance Verifications

Which rehab therapy services and treatments are approved for particular patients? Sometimes rehab therapists feel they need to be insurance wizards to get these questions answered in a timely manner. Even then, sometimes they guess wrong, delivering on services that turn out to be non-reimbursable. Avoid this by selecting a rehab therapy EHR solution that streamlines the process of receiving prior authorizations.

3. At-a-Glance Scheduling

Don’t overlook the benefits of a digital scheduling system. One-click scheduling, cluster scheduling and schedule tracking enable directors to maximize rehab therapist productivity while keeping up with changing needs and orders across multiple locations.

4. Efficient Documentation Processes

A specialized, rehab therapy-based documentation system enables rehab therapy teams to document thoroughly, accurately and compliantly while focusing most of their efforts on what matters most: the patients. Partner with an EHR solution provider that, using these notes, will maximize reimbursement by automatically applying optimal codes and charges.

5. Revenue Cycle Safeguards

Reduce your number of claim denials (and the costs associated with reworking these claims) by ensuring your submissions are as accurate and compliant as possible. Your most optimal EHR solutions will help make this possible through the use of thorough pre-claim validation checks.

6. Family Engagement Tools

Building trust with patients’ families and powers of attorney through regular, two-way digital communication can lead to higher levels of confidence in your rehab therapy team, greater responsiveness, dialog and compliance by families/POAs, and a higher sense of general satisfaction.

Stay Lean Yet Successful with Net Health Therapy for Senior Living

Whether you operate an in-house rehab therapy team or provide contract therapy services for skilled nursing and/or assisted living facilities, Net Health® Therapy for Senior Living is an industry-leading EHR solution that enhances continuity of care across SNF and ALF environments.

By offering seamless operational, clinical and billing workflows used by more than 16,000 locations, our comprehensive solution promotes superior efficiency, smoother care transitions, better patient outcomes and optimal profitability.

And, with our exclusive partnership and integration with Alinea, we are able to make many of the most common administrative burdens a thing of the past, enabling rehab therapists to put patients before paperwork.

To learn more about how Net Health Therapy for Senior Living, in tandem with Alinea, can help your rehab therapy team do more with less, contact us today to schedule a demo.

REFERENCES:
¹ Senior Housing News, “Average Assisted Living Resident Manages More Than 14 Chronic Conditions,” Sept. 14, 2022