By Healthcare Facilities Today

The Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation, a New York City metropolitan area leader in adult healthcare, has contracted PointRF’s NoWander Platform, a resident and staff management solution for safety and compliance. The real-time positioning system is expected to help the facility maintain location statistics of patients, staff, and assets; and solve issues discreetly and without undue alarm.

Several technological advancements have been made at the adult healthcare facility in recent years to ensure patient care and safety, with PointRF’s solution to replace Parker’s legacy resident and staff systems. The rollout will occur in four phases, the first of which is designed to protect and secure high-risk patients. Gradual expansion of the platform will include the remaining residents, staff, and assets, with eventual integration to include data analysis and business intelligence.

PointRF’s NoWander Platform ensures safety and compliance of residents, without unnecessary lockdowns and noisy alarms that upset residents and cause alarm fatigue by staff. Patients wear PointRF radio frequency identification (RFID) wristbands with safety settings, while staff badges and asset devices also identify profiles and building permissions. Key information is tracked and reported and ultimately used to predict behavior. “Parker continually searches for new and innovative solutions that will provide our residents with the best, state-of-the-art services,” said Michael N. Rosenblut, president and CEO of Parker Jewish Institute. “PointRF’s NoWander Platform fits that description by delivering unparalleled safety and security, while also providing management with insight into how we can maximize efficiency and create the highest level of care for our residents.”

By leveraging PointRF’s positioning system technology, officials at Parker will access real-time data to track location and activity status of patients and staff, with alerts to potential problems. And PointRF’s R&D team will benefit as well. “Our relationship with Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation is a milestone in the adoption of platform-based solutions,” said Richard Bauer, president and CEO of PointRF Solutions. “By working with the industry leader, PointRF expects to gain invaluable insights into the needs and operations of Long Term Care facilities, which we can use to further help this market manage, assess, predict, and respond to resident behavior.”

Located in New Hyde Park, which borders New York counties of Queens and Nassau, Parker Jewish Institute is a nationally-recognized 527-bed nonprofit center for healthcare and rehabilitation of adults. A clinical affiliate of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, Parker offers short-term rehabilitation, sub-acute care, and nursing home care. Additional services include adult day health care, home health care, hospice, Alzheimer care, dialysis, and medical transportation.

In October 2013, Parker Jewish Institute received the 2013 Gold Award for “Excellence in Technology” from McKnight’s, the long term care industry’s leading trade journal. A research center for studies related to aging, the facility is also a teaching affiliate of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Long Island Jewish Medical Center.