Glatfelter Launches Risk Management Tool for Long Term Care Facilities

August 27, 2015

Glatfelter Healthcare Practice, an insurance program serving senior living facilities, home health care and other private homecare agencies, and VorroHealth, a provider of clinical, AR/billing and interoperable technology for healthcare, have released ACTUM, a fully integrated offering to complement VorroHealth’s electronic health records (EHR) platform for long-term, post-acute care (LTPAC) providers.

ACTUM is a tool to help LTPAC communities reduce risk by comparing data captured in the EHR to 96 liability scenarios. This tool triggers an alert indicating the possibility of an adverse event. These advanced alerts give clinicians or other caregivers advanced warning to take timely actions, keeping residents safer, thereby reducing liability risks for the LTPAC provider.

Glatfelter Healthcare Practice developed the 96 liability triggers in conjunction with Pendulum LLC, a New Mexico-based specialist in assessment and risk reduction protocols for LTPACs. Examples of liability triggers include resident wandering, medication mismanagement, falls or medical conditions that might lead to injury for the resident. Once the triggers are loaded into the VorroHealth dashboard, data captured in the EHR is continually run through ACTUM’s algorithms. If any of the triggers are tripped, an alert is sent automatically, in real time, to the clinician so the issue can be addressed.

Glatfelter Healthcare Practice’s initial testing of ACTUM has proven so effective at mitigating risk that the company will offer eligible accounts a significant discount on their liability insurance. “There is so much data captured in electronic health records that can be tapped to reduce costs and risks,” said Shawn Yingling, president of Glatfelter Healthcare Practice. “A Latin word for action, ACTUM provides EHR end users with actionable data using evidence-based analytics to identify potential issues so the right actions can be taken.”

Consider this scenario: an LTPAC has an 86-year old female resident who is only eating half her meals, recently started taking them in her room rather than coming to the common dining area, and is taking two psychotropic medications for depression. An analysis by ACTUM indicates she may be at a higher risk for a fall than other residents. The LTPAC now knows it needs to give her extra attention to mitigate risk. The result is LTPACs can direct their resources to where they can have the greatest impact rather than spreading them thin across the entire resident base.

The use of ACTUM requires the LTPAC to have already implemented the VorroHealth EHR. It will be sold through Glatfelter Healthcare Practice’s insurance brokers.

Glatfelter Program Managers is a strategic business unit dedicated to Glatfelter Insurance Group’s program business. Based in York, Pa., GPM manages and markets several specialty programs, including Glatfelter Healthcare Practice for skilled care, assisted living, independent living, continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs), personal care and group homes, hospice, home health care agencies and other private homecare agencies; VFIS for fire departments, ambulance and rescue squads, and 911 centers; Glatfelter Public Practice for educational institutions, municipalities, independent school bus contractors and water/sewer entities; and Glatfelter Religious Practice for churches, synagogues, temples and other religious institutions.

VorroHealth (formerly BlueStep/BridgeGate) delivers technology products to LTPAC communities and across the healthcare. The company has offices in Jacksonville, Fla. and Salt Lake City.

Topics Risk Management Medical Professional Liability

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