When the electronic health record (EHR) system became outdated at Actors Fund Home, a LeadingAge member in Englewood, NJ, which provides short-term rehabilitation and long-term residence for people who worked in performing arts and entertainment, the organization sought an upgrade that transitioned away from manual processes and improved efficiencies in admissions and care transitions.

The chosen solution was myUnity® post-acute EHR software from Netsmart, a LeadingAge Bronze Partner with CAST Focus that empowers providers with one unified platform to deliver high-quality, integrated care.

Mere weeks after implementing myUnity®, Actors Fund Home had eliminated paper charts, sped and improved accuracy of admissions, and raised staff satisfaction. The latest LeadingAge CAST case study, “From Paper to Productivity: How Actors Fund Home Transformed Care with myUnity,” shares details on the implementation as well as learnings for providers.

Scaling for the Future

Actors Fund Home enjoyed longtime leadership and staff who had remained comfortable with manual systems and were adept at temporary workarounds to any challenges. Ultimately, however, they understood the need to automate and integrate processes, as well as to scale for a changing environment. User-friendly workflows, scalability, and seamless integration across care settings made the myUnity® software a strong fit for the organization’s needs.

Partnering on a Smooth Transition

With myUnity®, the Actors Home Fund gained a dedicated Netsmart support team that led a seamless transition with the following steps.

• Engaged Stakeholders: To ensure the system met the organization’s unique needs, Actors Home Fund nurses, Certified Nursing Assistants, administrators, and IT teams helped to define workflows.
• Customized Workflows: Netsmart and Actors Fund Home partnered to adapt myUnity® to the home’s clinical and administrative workflows.
• Migrated Data: To ensure continuity of care, teams carefully migrated resident data from the legacy system into myUnity®.
• Effective Training: Staff received hands-on, in-person training in a mirror of the live system so that they would feel fully prepared to use the new system by the launch date.

Clear communication, staff involvement, and a focus on building system confidence produced a seamless transition with a minimal impact on day-to-day operations.

Outcomes

Positive results began happening quickly.

• Shift to Digitized Documentation: Just five weeks after implementing myUnity®, Actors Home Fund had reduced its use of paper charts by 90% and was well on its way to achieving fully paperless documentation.
• Improved Transitions of Care: With myUnity®, nursing staff no longer need to manually re-enter resident information during care transitions, enabling them to facilitate fast, accurate, low-stress admissions.
• Enhanced Weekend Operations: Nurses can now independently admit residents without supervisor involvement, ensuring continuity of care during off-hours.
• Positive Staff Engagement and Workforce Stabilization: The user-friendly system and hands-on training has fostered a confident and engaged workforce, with myUnity® inspiring agency nurses to opt for full-time employment. In fact, all nurses are now employees, which improves morale and consistency in care delivery. Jordan Strohl, executive director of Actors Fund Home, celebrated the expanded workforce: “It was an exciting moment to all of a sudden get a bunch of nurses that we’ve been trying to pursue for so long.”

To learn more about how myUnity® improved operations at Actors Home Fund, read the case study.