Nursing homes have to have a doctor there who oversees the medical needs of the people. We have 2,000 patients in 60 homes who we see once a month, and work with on a regular basis as needed. The telemedics handle things that come up outside the weekly visits. Studies showed that nurses were spending three to four hours waiting for a doctor to call them back. With the telemedic nurse practitioners answering calls all day, that time is cut drastically and help is more immediate.
People always assume that.
They assume that old people go to nursing homes to die. But the fact of the matter is the elderly go to nursing homes to live, to improve their lifestyle and standard of living. We want to enhance their physical and mental health, and work from a preventative perspective. So we deal with everyday aches and pains and general health. We try to get involved in helping them live a healthy lifestyle.