Columbia-based University of Missouri researchers are using a $1 million federal grant to help nursing home staffers use texting for patient care instead of fax machines and voicemail, The Center Square reported Oct. 6.
Researchers are examining how texting can reduce delays in patient care and reduce costs and transfers to hospitals. The three-year grant is from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Currently, nursing home staff often wait for faxes or voicemails to be returned from physicians, social workers, family and other members of the care team to get directives on patient care. Often, by the time they receive a response it's too late to administer effective assistance.
"Texting is a bit more complicated in the healthcare environment because we have to worry about patient privacy and the security of data," Kimberly Powell, PhD, RN, an assistant professor at the MU Sinclair School of Nursing and the principal investigator for the research project, told Center Square. "But it's possible. And it is mind blowing as to why we haven't been doing this all along. But what's equally shocking is that so many nursing homes are still using fax machines to communicate."