Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Supplies and Components Index
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • MedTech Resources
    • Medtech Events in 2025
    • The 2024 Medtech Big 100
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
    • Video
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Women in Medtech
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Videoconferencing Suggested Between Hospital Clinicians and Nursing Home Staff

June 6, 2016 By Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Nursing homes in the United States care for increasing numbers of people with dementia, yet many lack access to geriatric psychiatrists, behavioral neurologists and other specialists who may help manage symptoms associated with dementia, including behavioral issues.

As a result, nursing home staff may resort to physical restraints or antipsychotic medications to manage behavioral challenges, which can significantly compromise a patient’s health, autonomy and dignity, and potentially lead to falls, fractures and hospitalizations.

A new study, led by clinician researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Hebrew SeniorLife and published online in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, has found that use of video consultation technology that brings together nursing home staff and hospital-based clinical experts was associated with significant reductions in the use of physical restraints and antipsychotic medication among patients with dementia. Researchers found that patients in the facilities involved in the study were 75 percent less likely to be physically restrained and 17 percent less likely to be prescribed antipsychotic medications.

A significant reduction in the use of physical restraints and antipsychotic medication among patients with dementia imply a potential decrease in adverse events such as falls, fractures and hospitalizations.

“There is a two-pronged issue facing nursing homes in the United States: Shortages of geriatricians, behavioral neurologists and geriatric psychiatrists and a lack of proximity of community nursing homes to larger medical facilities with specialists,” said corresponding author Stephen Gordon, MD, MBA, a geriatrician in the Division of Gerontology at BIDMC and at Hebrew SeniorLife. “Video conference technology can bring academic medical center specialists and nursing home staff together in a collaborative effort to care for patients with dementia.”

“The data show that video conference technology can, indeed, have a significant impact on how often patients are physically restrained or given antipsychotic medications,” he added. “It’s clear that by working together clinicians and nursing home staff can notably improve patients’ health and quality of life.” 

In 2012, BIDMC clinicians implemented Project ECHO-AGE, a case-based, video consultation program aimed to extend needed geriatric specialty care for patients with dementia from the hospital into community-based nursing homes. ECHO-AGE was adapted from a model of care known as the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) Project, which was originally developed by Sanjeev Aurora, MD, of the University of New Mexico to manage hepatitis C in rural parts of that state. BIDMC clinicians launched Project ECHO-AGE in the hopes that enhanced collaboration between care providers would improve the quality of care for people with dementia in the community. 

Project ECHO-AGE uses video consultation technology to facilitate bi-weekly conversations between teams of front line nursing home staff and a team of clinical experts at BIDMC, including a geriatrician facilitator, geropsychiatrist, behavioral neurologist and a social worker. During each 120-minute videoconference, the interdisciplinary teams discuss and offer recommendations for three or four patient cases. The discussion may include didactic sessions and reviews of individual treatment plans. 

With the goal of assessing the impact of Project ECHO-AGE, the researchers used a matched cohort of 11 nursing homes in Massachusetts and Maine. The facilities were matched with two other similar facilities based on facility size, non-profit or for-profit status, region, affiliation with a larger nursing home chain, staff rating and overall quality rating. 

“We found that nursing home facilities that participated in Project ECHO-AGE saw a significant reduction in the use of physical restraints and antipsychotic medication among patients with dementia,” said study senior author, Lewis A. Lipsitz, MD, chief of the Division of Gerontology at BIDMC and director of the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife. “These significant reductions also imply a potential decrease in adverse events such as falls, fractures and hospitalizations. As a result, further study of ECHO-AGE is warranted for the continued improvement of geriatric care management and lower health care costs.”

Related Articles Read More >

A photo of Capstan Medical's mitral valve implant, which uses nitinol.
Capstan Medical’s R&D head discusses the heart valve and robotics startup’s tech, engineering challenges and solutions, advice for others in medtech and how to join his team
An illustration of a neurosurgeon using a robotic endoscope to remove a brain tumor.
MDO Nitinol Innovation Special Report
A photo of Highridge Medical CEO Rebecca Whitney.
Highridge Medical is betting on this spine tech
An illustration showing the Artedrone Sasha thrombectomy catheter approaching a blood clot.
This microrobot system is designed to float inside a stroke patient for autonomous thrombectomy
“mdo
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest medical device business news, application and technology trends.

DeviceTalks Weekly

See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media LLC. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Supplies and Components Index
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • MedTech Resources
    • Medtech Events in 2025
    • The 2024 Medtech Big 100
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
    • Video
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Women in Medtech
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe