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Mark Crandall, chief information officer of Consulate Health Care, Maitland, Fla., says his organization has looked at products to monitor how many turns in the bed a resident takes, but for now most of the budget that would involve new technology goes to EHRs and worker recruitment and retention.

He says the company’s focus is on quality improvements and freeing up time for practitioners to have more time with patients by moving away from paper charting to the electronic.

And this goes hand in hand with being able to share records with hospitals and physician offices, which in turn makes Consulate facilities more attractive for partnering in traditional and new risk-based payment model settings, like accountable care organizations.

“We’ve come a long way in the last five years,” says Crandall, who is a member of the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living Health Information Technology Committee.

“If we don’t prove ourselves to be a highly valuable provider, one that plays well with others, as well as to make sure our quality measures are in line and prove out with our data capturing, then we will be left out.
“Provider networks are narrowing, and we are making sure we invest the money we have to improve our partnerships.”