Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services Expands Its Innovative Home To Stay Program for Seniors In Ohio
Columbus, OH (PRWEB) September 28, 2015 -- Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services (OPRS) is pleased to announce a $23,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation to help expand OPRS’ innovative Home to Stay program to help patients discharged from hospitals stay healthy at home.
Special technology is the key to this program developed by the Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services (OPRS). Health measurements are taken at home and data goes to a nurse for review. The result has been fewer hospital readmissions and a substantial cost savings.
Home to Stay debuted in July 2013 through OPRS’s subsidiary Senior Independence and is offered at no cost to patients of the Northwest Ohio Accountable Care Organization.
A registered nurse or licensed practical nurse visits a patient within 72 hours after being discharged from the hospital, with a follow-up visit within seven to 10 days. The nurses review patients’ medications, take vital signs, establish health records and confirm appointments and more.
In the program’s first year, participating patients showed a 3.4 percent hospital re-admission (return) rate, compared to a regional average of 14.5 percent re-admission. These results represent a substantial financial savings as well as better health management for patients.
OPRS is proud to have Verizon as an enthusiastic supporter of Home to Stay. The program includes telehealth which provides patients with glucose monitoring, pulse checking and other health measurements. The monitoring equipment sends data via a computer tablet to a nurse at Senior Independence for review.
Wendy Price Kiser, Toledo’s Senior Independence executive director, talked about the funding from Verizon. “This gives us an opportunity to partner with other key stakeholders toward innovation that supports the use of technology for the senior population. Our seniors are a traditionally underserved demographic when it comes understanding and implementing new technology. Thanks to Verizon, that is about to change,” she said.
About Verizon Foundation:
The Verizon Foundation is focused on accelerating social change by using the company’s innovative technology to help solve pressing problems in education and healthcare. For more information about Verizon’s philanthropic work, visit http://www.verizon.com/about/responsibility; or for regular updates, visit Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/verizonfoundation) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/verizongiving).
About Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services (OPRS
Founded in 1922, Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services (OPRS) is the largest and most experienced not-for-profit provider of Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) and services in Ohio. Each year, Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services (OPRS) serves more than 73,000 people annually through its wholly owned subsidiaries OPRS Communities and Senior Independence. OPRS Communities operates 12 retirement communities. Senior Independence provides home and community based services, operates five adult day centers and manages six senior centers, in partnership with local governments. The OPRS Foundation raises several million dollars annually to support charity care, special programs, capital expansion and endowment.
Melissa Dardinger, Senior Independence, http://www.seniorindependence.org/, 614-888-7800, [email protected]
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