Five organizations that serve long-term care facilities have teamed up to create Tracking-19, a free resource that helps nursing homes manage the exponential increase in the number of COVID-19-related requirements.

SNF Metrics, SHOPP, PRIME SOURCE, Zimmet Healthcare and People Powered Nursing created Tracking-19 and the associated app to provide reliable and efficient infection tracking and reporting for both residents and employees. The app also helps nursing homes meet continually changing reporting expectations by government bodies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and county health officials.

“Long-term care facilities have their hands full during the pandemic caring for residents and ensuring their employees are healthy and safe.” said Ken Berger, president and chief operating officer of SNF Metrics. “Add to this, the new reporting demands and employee testing requirements, (and) this puts an impossible strain on LTC organizations already struggling to cope with the toll this virus has taken on the industry.”

The complimentary app offered at Tracking19.com takes the guesswork out of employee and resident COVID-19 testing, tracking and reporting. Facilities can use the app to input line listing and employee testing data from any department or facility. The app, updated daily, will always have the latest reporting requests and formatting so facilities can devote more time to resident care and employee safety and not struggle with version control, time-consuming duplication, manual tracking and careless errors as a result of unimaginable workloads. 

“This gives all parties the confidence to win in this pandemic,” said Michael Greenfield, CEO of PRIME SOURCE.  “Residents are getting the best care, employees know they are working in a safe environment with reduced risk of infection to themselves or the residents they care for, our government partners are getting the data they need, residents’ families feel relieved their loved ones are in good hands and the facility operators have the right data to know they are running their organizations in the best way possible under unimaginable circumstances.”

Nationwide, long-term care facilities face steep financial penalties, and potential closure if they are not able to comply with changing government reporting demands. Multiple vendors are also rushing their own versions of tracking and tracing tools to market.

Contact Harald, for instance, is using Bluetooth technology in its approach to monitoring where employees have been.

Each individual is issued a registered, secure contact card unique to them. If the employee tests positive, or reports symptoms of COVID-19, proximity data is uploaded from the card. All data remains encrypted and secure utilizing the platform.

Bluetooth enables record-making when two or more people are in less than six feet from each other for more than two minutes. Any contacts who were in close proximity to a sick or suspected sick worker are immediately notified and referred for testing and isolation.

 “With further hotspots emerging across the country, the nature of this virus makes getting back to work rather complicated,” said Matt Denton, the former Apple designer behind the Contact Harald platform. “Designed with speed and accuracy at its heart, this unique platform can quickly identify, contact and isolate any potential sources of infection.” 

The cards can also offer a visual compliance cue to help boost staff morale and visitor confidence.