Elderwood has earned the 2019 Senior Living Bronze Award in McKnight’s Technology Awards for the development of the Activity Utility data tracking system in the category of Quality.
“Tracking data is extremely important to providing quality care for our residents with the various activities and programs they are involved in,” said Clay Bozard, chief information officer. “We are proud of our technology team for their innovation and our staff, who implement the use of this technology daily to help create better outcomes for the entire population of our residents.”
Elderwood was recognized for its innovative use of technology to create an electronic record keeping system that tracks a resident’s involvement in activity programs, attendance and participation. “There was a need for an automated tool that could efficiently track residents’ improvements or declines,” said Director of Memory Care and Programming Elizabeth Laczi. “There wasn’t a tool like this available, so we created Activity Utility to create a more person-center care-plan.”
All of this is done on an iPad to promote efficiency in documentation in activity programs and assessments. Elderwood began implementing the program in the fall of 2018. The technology has benefited Elderwood by offering a more efficient way to track any declines or improvements in the resident’s cognitive, physical, social or emotional quality of life areas. Information with what residents are doing in the facility can be shared with families, as well as with their physician.
The judges weighed value, relevance, impact and originality equally for innovations that have made notable contributions to the quality of care. The data captured in Activity Utility results in better clinical outcomes for residents and more person-centered care plans.
McKnight’s Long-Term Care News is a business news magazine serving the institutional long-term care field, focusing especially on the high-acuity skilled nursing setting.
