Evidence-based Clinical Information Gap at Small, Independent Long-term Care Facilities Leads to Calls for Better Access

PHILADELPHIA, April 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Independent long-term care (LTC) facilities represent more than 60 percent of the total number of LTC facilities in the U.S., according to 2014 data from Billian's HealthData. Several studies such as University of Iowa Professor Specht's "Evidence Based Practice in Long Term Care Settings" describe adoption of critical evidence-based practice clinical information as "sporadic" at best¹. As Baby Boomers age and nursing home populations continue to increase, Wolters Kluwer finds that these essential healthcare facilities are dramatically underserved when it comes to cost-effective, evidence-based clinical information solutions.

To address this critical resource gap in independently owned providers, Wolters Kluwer today announced the release of Lippincott Essentials for Long-Term Care, an online clinical reference site designed to meet the point-of-care information needs of nurses working in long-term care facilities.

For the first time, clinical reference and learning content utilized by many of the large, corporate-owned organizations that utilize the Lippincott Solutions software is available to these smaller sites in a single, cost-effective package.

"The industry must find a way to standardize effective clinical care to improve resident outcomes or risk loss of reimbursement," said Donna Hendricksen Fiala, MS, Owner and Advisor, AQAC Consulting, LLC, a consultant to healthcare providers to assure quality and affordable care. "Regulatory constraints and a shift toward outcomes-based healthcare put the same pressure on these smaller providers, who have limited staff and budgets. This environment is driving the need for current, evidence-based clinical information that can be easily accessed to assure quality of care."

Lippincott Essentials for Long-Term Care provides online user access to a subset of LTC-specific content currently embedded in Lippincott Advisor, Lippincott Procedures, and Lippincott Professional Development, three of the most widely deployed clinical decision support and competency improvement software applications used by multi-entity long-term care providers and health systems. The Essentials product is easy to understand and intuitive to use, streamlining staff workflow and saving a significant amount of time searching for information and maintaining a consistent set of evidence-based practice information.

"As the aging U.S. population lives longer with chronic conditions that require long-term care support, these small, independent facilities must maximize limited budgets, while maintaining high standards of care," said Susan Driscoll, President, Nurse Learning and Engagement, Wolters Kluwer, Health Learning, Research and Practice. "We recognized that there was no affordable, 'one-stop' online solution catering to the clinical information needs of this market using the latest evidence. By using a subset of content from our Lippincott Solutions products, we can fill this gap by helping these facilities improve care delivery, employee confidence and resident outcomes."

Access to the product is through the Lippincott Essentials for Long-Term Care site, a new online platform that provides an intuitive user interface. Content includes LTC procedures including videos, checklists and images; LTC Diseases, Conditions and corresponding LTC Care Plans with images and charts, plus dozens of online courses offering CE hours.

Lippincott Essentials for Long-Term Care is available immediately for online purchase as a single concurrent-user annual subscription of $499.95 to independent facility owners with less than 300 beds or independent clinicians who need access to evidence-based LTC content. Facilities that require access for multiple concurrent users can purchase multiple copies of Lippincott Essentials. To purchase, visit www.LippincottEssentialsLTC.com.

¹ University of Iowa Professor Janet K Specht, Phd, RN, FAAN published her article in 2013 titled "Evidence based practice in long term care settings" via the Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing, 43(2), 145-154.

About Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information services. Professionals in the areas of legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance and healthcare rely on Wolters Kluwer's market leading information-enabled tools and software solutions to manage their business efficiently, deliver results to their clients, and succeed in an ever more dynamic world.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2014 annual revenues of €3.7 billion. The group serves customers in over 170 countries, and employs over 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on NYSE Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY).

For more information about our products and organization, visit www.wolterskluwer.com, follow @WKHealth or @Wolters_Kluwer on Twitter, like us on Facebook, follow us on LinkedIn, or follow WoltersKluwerComms on YouTube.

SOURCE Wolters Kluwer

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