Rural Project Examples: Long-term care

Effective Examples

University of Vermont Medical Center's Nursing Home Telepsychiatry Service

Updated/reviewed December 2023

• Need: To improve the health status and access for rural nursing home patients in need of mental health services.
• Intervention: The University of Vermont Medical Center provides telepsychiatry care and education to nursing homes in communities that face shortages of mental health professionals.
• Results: These telepsychiatry consultations have eased the burden on nursing home residents by saving travel time, distance, and money it takes to travel to the nearest tertiary facility.

Promising Examples

SD eResidential Facilities Healthcare Services Access Project

Updated/reviewed August 2020

• Need: To increase local health services to rural elderly populations in long-term care facilities located in four Midwest states near a tertiary care organization.
• Intervention: A non-profit healthcare organization implemented telehealth services to provide acute care evaluations for long-term residents in their home facilities.
• Results: The program increased local care as evidenced by improved year-over-year provider-determined available transfer data: 33%, 50%, 63% program years 1 through 3, respectively. From the success of the initial pilot implementation, the program has further matured into a long-term care offering that now reaches many other rural facilities located in 10 states across the nation.

Other Project Examples

Southwest Health System Antibiotic Stewardship Program

Updated/reviewed March 2021

• Need: Impact patient care and safety issues related to antibiotic use in southwest Colorado.
• Intervention: Pharmacy-led antibiotic stewardship program for inpatient, outpatient, and long-term care settings.
• Results: With antibiotic use guidelines, refined infection diagnostics, and first-choice antibiotic selections, all care settings now see decreased days of treatment and decreased resistance patterns.