A lot of nursing homes are run via pen and paper based systems to manage resident information. This can be risky and dangerous. Here’s why:

Accurate Logging

Nursing homes that maintain books allow the nurses to sign for things at a much later date because there is no automated logging. This can reduce the quality of care because nurses can just lie at what time they did certain things and there is no way to know.

Forgetfulness

Generally, computer-based systems have reminders and status boards built into it. Nursing homes generally need to care for many residents, and it’s natural for nurses to forget serving medications or take vital signs. There needs to be a good computer-based system to help remind the staff of these tasks.

Invoice Tracking

It’s hard to keep track of the payments made to nursing homes, especially when they have variable charges. A lot of nursing home software systems have invoicing capabilities built in so you can get a soft copy of all your invoices.

Vitals Tracking

Some nursing homes have web based systems you can log into and see the vital signs of your loved ones. This means you can ensure they are recording vital signs on a regular basis and you can monitor from where ever you are.

Security

Pen and paper systems have little to no security because if a file is left on a table anyone can flip through and see private information about the resident. Computer based systems usually have permissions so certain staff can see only certain information.