09/25/2023
CUPERTINO, California. September 25, 2023 — The Forum at Rancho San Antonio, a Life Care Services community located in Cupertino, CA, received a Gold Award at the McKnight’s Excellence in Technology Awards + Summit virtual event to recognize its “Smart Monitoring Prevents Falls in Memory Care” project. The awards honor and recognize the innovative use of technology to improve the overall care and operations within the senior living industry.
“Receiving this award from McKnight’s is an incredible honor. When we were designing our new Memory Care facility, we had a perfect opportunity to be the first to institute a cutting-edge technology that would support high-quality patient safety practices for our Memory Care residents,” said Nancy Kao, Executive Director of The Forum at Rancho San Antonio. “We are already seeing incredible results with our patients and realizing better efficiency with our care teams.”
VSTAlert works by using highly trained artificial intelligence and LIDAR sensors to monitor residents for bed or chair exits and alert staff 30-65 seconds before the resident rises. This protects residents without using loud alarms, restrictive wearables, or inaccurate pressure alarms, and reduces monitoring workload from care teams. Specific additional settings like audio adjustments, post-event reporting, and custom monitoring schedules allow high-quality care in challenging Memory Care environments.
The Forum began to see results within the first 5 months of using VSTAlert, including:
- An 80% reduction in falls with injury
- VSTAlert’s built-in reporting helped the team identify 6-7 p.m. as the highest-risk hour in the memory care unit. Using this data, they adjusted our staffing schedules and care plans to provide a higher level of care.
- Ability to use VSTAlert data to create tailored care plans for three frequent fallers. After these intervention plans, the fall rate for this group fell from eight falls per month, to less than one fall per month.
“Each year, we are excited to see, recognize and share examples of how technology is being used in big and small ways to improve the lives of older adults and those who care for them,” said McKnight’s Editorial Director John O’Connor.
The award will be recognized in person at the McKnight’s Excellence in Technology Awards Summit on Oct. 2, 2023, in Denver, CO. To learn more about the 2023 McKnight’s Excellence in Technology Awards or to see the full list of inductees, visit www.mcknightstechawards.com.
