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Mobile medical imaging providers that serve nursing home or assisted living facilities help to improve overall patient care in a plethora of ways. Alpha One Imaging offers mobile arterial ultrasounds including carotid ultrasounds, which help care providers identify artery blockages in the legs, arms and neck.

Mobile imaging services make it much easier for nursing home patients to receive this life-saving ultrasound. When a patient receives an arterial ultrasound in a nursing home facility to identify potential issues, the patient stays safe and comfortable while his or her physician can work to prevent progression of vascular disease and death.

What is an Arterial Ultrasound?

Also referred to as a vascular ultrasound, this noninvasive ultrasound methodology is used to examine blood circulation in the arms and legs. Used to identify clogged, narrowing or blocked arteries and other issues with the vascular system, this important procedure is noninvasive and does not require the use of dyes, needles, anesthesia or radiation.

Physicians treating the elderly order this test to make sure the patient’s arteries in their arms and legs do not exhibit any blockages, which can cause a host of problems. The prevalence of conditions like Peripheral Arterial Disease, a chronic arterial occlusive disease of the lower extremities caused by atherosclerosis, increase with age, making arterial ultrasounds even more vital. Early detection of vascular issues can be life-saving.

Why do Patients in Nursing Facilities Need Arterial Ultrasounds?

An arterial ultrasound can show how blood flows to many parts of the body, measuring the width of a blood vessel and revealing any blockages in the arms and legs. Clogged or narrowing arteries in the extremities can cause persistent pain and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Care providers can create a plan of action after identifying one of the following conditions in elderly patients with this test:

• Abdominal aneurysm
• Arterial occlusion
• Carotid occlusive disease
• Renal vascular disease

Carotid ultrasounds are another kind of arterial ultrasound to examine blood flow through the main arteries in the neck. Blocked or narrowed carotid arteries can increase the risk of a fatal stroke. The results of these ultrasounds can help the physicians of nursing home patients determine a treatment to lower these risks.

Receiving an Arterial or Carotid Ultrasound in a Nursing Home as Opposed to a Hospital

There are a number of benefits for patients receiving an arterial or carotid ultrasound in the comfort of their own nursing home or care facility as opposed to receiving one at a hospital, including:

• No stress on the patient due to the typical hospital transfer process.
• Procedure is covered by patient insurance (with all insurance policies accepted by Alpha One).
• Patient receives care sooner because of convenience, with the tests easy for nursing homes to schedule.
• Patient’s physician can prepare for any necessary treatment without him or her having to go to multiple hospital appointments.

Patient satisfaction, comfort and safety are top priorities for nursing homes and care facilities, and mobile imaging makes those goals more attainable. However, nursing home patients aren’t the only ones benefiting from mobile imaging services.

How Nursing Homes and Care Facilities Benefit From Providing Mobile Arterial Ultrasounds

Beyond an increase in overall patient satisfaction due to low-stress test conditions that are comfortable and covered by the patient’s insurance, mobile arterial ultrasounds benefit nursing homes and care facilities in the following ways:

• The facility is able to provide a high standard of proactive, preventative patient care.
• Staff members remain on-site (normally a staff member would accompany a patient to a hospital to administer this test).
• Care providers can use Alpha One’s digital reporting to communicate with physicians so no extra work is required for the facility’s staff.

Nursing facilities ready to take the next step into the future of ultrasound technology – and reap its myriad of benefits – should contact Alpha One Imaging today.