Prescribing efficiently in nursing homes

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Nursing Administration
• Health Economics

Background:

• Medication administration in nursing homes is a resource-intensive process.
• Current practices may not be optimized for nursing efficiency.
• High costs associated with nursing time impact overall care quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the potential for nursing time savings through medication administration consolidation.
• To quantify the financial impact of optimizing medication administration schedules.
• To explore the reallocation of saved nursing time to enhance resident care.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of medication orders within a community nursing home setting.
• Physician-led independent judgment to assess potential visit eliminations.
• Calculation of potential annual cost savings based on eliminated nursing time.

Main Results:

• Nineteen percent of medication administration visits were deemed eliminable.
• Potential annual savings of up to $19,000 in nursing time were identified.
• Consolidation offers a viable strategy for resource optimization.

Conclusions:

• Consolidating medication administration presents a significant opportunity to reduce nursing workload.
• Reallocating saved nursing time can lead to improvements in the quality of care.
• This strategy offers a cost-effective approach to enhancing nursing home operations.