Briarwood Manor
Coldwater, Ohio


Background
Briarwood Manor is located in Coldwater, Ohio and is part of the 22-facility HCF organization based in Lima, Ohio. The facility has 100 beds with 30% private pay, 60% Medicaid, and 10% Medicare.

Challenge
For many years, Briarwood used paper assessment forms and management noticed that staff copied from one shift to the next. “You wouldn’t see any variation about a resident through a full month while the same form was in use,” explained John Austin, Administrator at Briarwood.

Mary Delzeith, Director of Nursing at Briarwood, was interested in improving the accuracy of certain assessments (mood and behavior) by taking it from the nurses and giving it to the nursing assistants since they are much closer to the residents.

HCF corporate recognized these challenges throughout their organization and began looking for alternatives to improve case mix scores through increased assessment accuracy.

Solution
CareTracker was implemented at Briarwood with a focus on ADLs, Depression Indicators, and Behavior. Touch screen kiosks were installed in each of its three units.

Results
Within 30 days the facility identified many more depression symptoms and behaviors than were previously known. “We have a much better picture of our residents now,” Mary explains. “Now we can address the residents’ needs better for care planning issues.”

"Our case mix score has gone up,” John Austin reports. After the first full quarter the CMI went from 1.80 to 1.85. After six months a thorough analysis was performed by HCF’s corporate office showing an annual increase of $170,000 in Medicaid revenue.

Management at Briarwood indicates that CareTracker has helped them adjust staffing to more accurately target where the care is needed. “The system also has helped our C.N.A.’s feel like a part of the system, how their job affects staffing and resident care,“ Mary explains. “It also helps me identify staff members that are having trouble understanding assessment language. On the paper system, they would just copy what someone else put down. On CareTracker, it forces them to make a true, thoughtful assessment.”

Management is taking it one step at a time and plans to implement the restorative tracking and therapy components next. “It is a work in progress," John Austin reflects, “but we believe it is a tool that is helping our facility.”