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An area dedicated to advancements in Health Care Technology that will improve the lives of the residents we serve.
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Pennsylvania Initiative Will Use PHRs to Reduce Hospital Readmissions
A new health care cooperative in Southeastern Pennsylvania is looking into the role that personal health records (PHR) can play in reducing hospital readmission rates. The Partnership for Patient Care includes regional hospitals, health systems and the insurer Independence Blue Cross. One of the partnership's work groups will explore ways to use PHRs to help discharged patients manage their own care. Other work groups will focus on helping patients understand their medication regimens and fostering better communication among hospitals, patients, and their primary care doctors, nursing homes and home health agencies.
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Wii Helps Overweight Elders Burn Calories
Wii bowling may be a great way to help retirement community residents have fun and become more social. But researchers say the gaming system could also help overweight residents burn calories. The study, presented at the American College of Sports Medicine's annual meeting, found that gamers, who ranged in age from 66 to 78 and had a body mass index of 26 to 39, burned as many as 176 calories playing individual bowling for a half hour. Study participants who played Wii baseball burned as many as 144 calories during a 30-minute game.
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"FineThanx" Monitors Elderly by Phone
A low-tech home monitoring service called FineThanx uses the telephone to check on older subscribers twice a day.
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"Twendy-One" Robot Offers Elder Care with Human Touch
Japanese researchers have equipped a new service robot with humanoid features that should increase its chances of being accepted by older people who need daily assistance. "Twendy-One" can move in virtually any direction, bend at the waist to pick up objects from the floor and support a person's weight up to 77 pounds. It also has a soft exterior "skin," minimal exterior wires, eyes that roll and nimble fingers. Twendy-One's only flaw may be its price, estimated to be between $110,350 and $220,700.
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CMS Guidance on Wall-Mounted Computer Touch Screens
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Survey and Certification Letter (5/14/10), concerning corridor wall-mounted computer touch screens and other wall-mounted projections.
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CMS launches website for EHR Incentives
In an effort to help providers navigate new health information technology requirements and qualify for meaningful-use payments, the CMS has launched a website detailing information about its electronic health-record system incentive programs, which are scheduled to launch in 2011.
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Technology Roadmap for LTC (Download) This is a 40 page white paper on the roadmap for developing and maintaining technology in Long Term Care for the next three years.
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White Paper: Capturing Accurate Data at the Point of Care
Up to 30% of patient information can be lost or incorrectly transposed during transfer from manual systems to clinical software.