NRC's Adoption of Advanced Technology Improves Clinical Effectiveness

A recent CAST Case Study completed by LeadingAge concluded that Northfield Retirement Community's (NRC) implementation of Healthsense remote monitoring technology has lead to clinical effectiveness for its residents.

NRC uses Healthsense eNeighbor, state-of-the-art monitoring technology implemented on an enterprise-wide WiFi sensing infrastructure. The remote monitoring technology helps proactively manage and anticipate residents' care needs, automatically detecting adverse situations and emerging health concerns before they turn into emergencies. The system uses a combination of monitors and sensors, allowing for features like emergency call pendants, alerts for wandering or missed medication, and ADL reports to track health and wellness indicators.

The program has improved response time, resident and family satisfaction, and staff productivity. Since its implementation in 2008, NRC has been able to create individualized care plans based on a variety of parameters, allowing residents to remain living independently up to a year longer than was possible without passive monitoring.

"We are able to gather more information about our residents so we can set the system based on specific individual parameters such as diagnosis and cognitive or physical condition. We can more closely monitor how quickly or how slowly they are processing to different clinical levels," said Kyle R. Nordine, President and CEO of NRC.

NRC has a 40-year history of providing quality housing and services specifically designed to meet the physical, social, psychological and spiritual needs of older adults. The organization operates or manages multiple senior living facilities. Providing a range of services – from round-the-clock care to minimal home care assistance – the housing options available focus on giving adults, age 55 or older, the assistance they need to lead healthy, meaningful lives.

The LeadingAge Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) is leading the charge to expedite the development, evaluation and adoption of emerging technologies that can improve the aging experience. CAST has become an international coalition of more than 400 technology companies, aging services organizations, research universities and government representatives. CAST works under the auspices of LeadingAge, an association of 6,000 not-for-profit organizations dedicated to making America a better place to grow old.