Skilled nursing facilities play a vital role in rehabilitation and long term care for senior citizens and people with disabilities across Europe. However, staffing challenges and geographic limitations can sometimes impact the level of care provided. Europe Telerehabilitation Skilled Nursing Care Center is addressing these issues through innovative applications of telehealth technology.

Addressing Staff Shortages with Telehealth
Like many skilled nursing centers, staffing qualified nurses and therapists has been an ongoing struggle for Europe Telerehabilitation Skilled Nursing Care Center. The aging population is driving increased demand for long term care services, but healthcare job openings often go unfilled due to lack of qualified candidates. "We've had to turn patients away or limit new admissions at times because we simply didn't have enough clinical staff available on site," said Center Administrator John Smith.

To overcome this challenge, the facility partnered with a telehealth company to launch virtual care delivery models in 2017. Licensed providers can now treat patients remotely using secure video conferencing platforms. "Our telehealth program allows us to utilize clinicians based anywhere while maintaining a high standard of personalized, hands-on care for our residents," Smith explained.

Remote specialists like physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and nurses conduct online visits and treatment sessions with patients under the supervision of on-site nurses. The telehealth carts, equipped with HD cameras and monitoring devices, are wheeled into patient rooms to facilitate interactive virtual sessions. Resident safety and privacy are a top priority, with nurses present throughout telehealth visits.

Expanding Access to Specialized Care
In addition to addressing staffing gaps, telehealth has enabled Europe Telerehabilitation to substantially broaden access to specialized medical care for its patients. The remote care delivery model connects residents with hard-to-find specialty providers like geriatric psychiatrists, neurologists, wound care experts and cardiology specialists located throughout Europe.

"For example, we've used telehealth to get timely consultations with neurologists specializing in movement disorders like Parkinson's Disease for our residents," said Smith. "Previously, transporting fragile elderly patients for in-person specialist appointments was risky and logistically complex. But with telehealth, these valuable specialists can evaluate and treat patients safely and conveniently via video."