Reducing Risk for Care Communities

The primary causes of death associated with wandering from a long-term care community include being struck by a vehicle, exposure to extreme temperatures, and drowning. These tragedies affect not only the families of the lost, but often result in legal action, state-imposed fines, and negative media for the communities.

Ten percent of nursing homes/long-term care lawsuits are associated with wandering. For these communities, the cost related to an elopement can average a startling $393,650 per claim.

Insurance underwriters, unsettled by the rising number of suits and settlements, have chosen either to walk away from the senior care industry or to dramatically escalate their insurance premium costs. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has ranked elopement number 11 on their list of key function for improving organizational performance in long-term care communities.

As part of our mission to help rapidly locate and recover the lost, we have created a means to significantly reduce risk management and while protecting care community residents. With the EmFinders EmSeeQ device, if a resident wanders, they will be found.

“I spent weeks looking over devices. I chose this over the GPS device because it can be securely placed on my Dad’s wrist and he cannot remove it. This device is based on cellular technology so it does locate within buildings. The other devices do no good if Dad does not happen to have it with him.” —Ginny Scott

In addition to risk reduction and peace of mind, our solution provides care communities with the service differentiator of added security for residents who may wander. Administrators can manage the service for their residents using a simple Web-based portal to assign devices to rotating patients.