Award-winning skilled nursing operators took home top prizes in the 2022 McKnight’s Excellence in Technology program for outstanding strides made in infection control practices, visitor screening processes and the prevention of patient falls.
In all, 13 Gold medalists were honored in a dynamic online ceremony Tuesday afternoon. Corresponding Silver and Bronze winners in four categories spanning three divisions also were honored. Winners were also recognized in the Tech Partner of the Year category for vendors.
In the Skilled Nursing division, the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, of the Bronx, NY, struck Gold in the Innovator of the Year category for its use of the ZeroG gait and balance system.
The A.I.-powered, body-weight support system assists residents admitted to subacute rehabilitation who have more medical complexity and lower functional levels. The system uses a ceiling track-mounted machine that connects via harness to the resident.
This helps residents practice sitting to standing, walking, and ascending and descending stairs without the risk of falling. Since using the system, Hebrew Home has fully eliminated injuries and falls during physical therapy sessions. Residents also demonstrate greater than national averages in functional improvement.
The Silver winner in this category was Ecumen, of Shoreview, MN, while Bronze medals were awarded to Cypress Living, of Fort Myers, FL, and The Ciena Group, of Southfield, MI
Building Bridges winners
In the division’s Building Bridges category, EmpRes Healthcare of Vancouver, WA, achieved Gold for its use of Accushield technology. The technology helps alleviate the need to staff employees at facility entrances.
The kiosk and mobile app enabled self-screening and the capture of valuable data used for other processes. EmpRes estimates a savings of more than 45,000 labor hours and just over $135,000 in labor dollars through its use of Accushield.
The Silver winner was Trillium Woods, of Plymouth, MN, and Bronze was taken home by Hebrew Home at Riverdale, the Bronx, NY, for a separate program than its Innovator entry..
Quality winners
Parker Health Group of Piscataway, NJ, earned Gold in the Quality category for its use of BioVigil Hand Hygiene Solution. The technology’s sensors measure time spent hand washing and compliance, and provide individual and team performance metrics.
This technology helped support infection control efforts through monitoring hand hygiene opportunities, intervening and educating care partners at the point of care, and influencing behavior to improve and sustain hand hygiene performance.
Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation, of New Hyde Park, NY, won the Silver Award, while Bronzes went to Garden Spot Communities, of New Holland, PA, and Momentum at South Bay for Rehabilitation and Nursing, of East Islip, NY
KISS winners
The last of the Skilled Nursing Gold winners was Signature Healthcare of Louisville, KY, which secured top honors in the Keep it Super Simple category for its digital fit-testing for N95 masks. Signature worked with CareAscend to create an innovative digital process that allows staff and the medical practitioners to electronically work with facility leadership to simplify and expedite the medical evaluation and fit-testing process.
CareAscend’s digital process has had a significant, positive impact on Signature HealthCARE’s facility time-management and OSHA fit-testing record-keeping operations. In the end, this saved many hours, if not days, of staff time and resources.
The Silver winner was Advanced Healthcare Solutions, of Arlington, TX, and United Church Homes, of Marion, OH, won Bronze.
Tech Partners of the Year
In an all-Division competition, RecallCue secured the Gold in the Tech Partner of the Year category. RecallCue is a two -app solution. The first, RecallCue Day Clock, turns any tablet into a “hands-off” easy-to-use day clock. The second app, RecallCue Connect, lets anyone — no matter where they are — communicate with their loved one, with the ability to send messages and photos, set alarms and reminders, play music, share files and conduct two-way video calling.
The recipient of the messages is totally hands-off and does not require any active participation or knowledge of technology. Used in homes, retirement communities, assisted living facilities and dementia facilities, it most recently expanded to skilled nursing settings. The newest upgrade allows pictures to be added to reminders. This, for example, can vitally improve medication management adherence by sharing images of pills that are to be taken.
Tech Partner of the Year’s Silver winner was Kami Vision, while National Health Care Associates earned Bronze.
More coverage, in-person celebration to come
Full stories on each of the Skilled Nursing Gold medalists, along with descriptions of the Silver and Bronze winners, will be featured in future installments of the McKnight’s Daily Update.
An esteemed group of 25 long-term care stakeholders judged hundreds of nominations, assessing nominations gathered this spring for their overall value in improving resident care and services.
McKnight’s published a list of all 2022 finalists in September.
Winners and finalist lists in the Senior Living and Home Care divisions can be found at mcknightsseniorliving.com and mcknightshomecare.com.
Tuesday’s awards ceremony and three accompanying educational webinars, remain free and open to everyone over the next 12 months, but registration is required here.
In addition to this week’s celebration, winners also will be feted at an in-person cocktail reception Oct. 17 in Denver. For more information and to register, click here.The Platinum sponsor of the 2022 McKnight’s Tech Awards + Summit is KARE. Gold sponsors are iN2L + LifeLoop, IntelyCare and Saiva.
