Barriers to technology adoption in long-term care

Margaret Calkins, PhD, president of IDEAS, presenting at Environments for Aging.10 in Coronado, California, gave attendees seven tips that get in the way of implementing technology in long-term care facilities at a session called Successful Strategies and Barriers to Technology. Those barriers include:

1. Lack of information on what’s available

2. Lack of information about the actual size of the long-term care market (there are 16,000 nursing homes, Calkins said, compared to 14,000 McDonald’s restaurants in the United States)

3. Perceived (or actual) lack of financial resources

4. Fear of total costs (not just hardware and software costs, but training as well)

5. Liability concerns

6. Regulatory concerns/barriers

7. Staffing-related challenges

Successful strategies for technology adoption include leadership, but the customary top-down model may not work.

“You need to find staff who are interested in technology and can help implement it and encourage other workers that it’s not a way to keep tabs on them but rather a way to increase the quality of care,” Calkins said.

Calkins also said the industry needs to develop standards for successful technology implementation models and educate providers about successful implementation.