How Home Healthcare Organizations Are Staying Connected – HealthTech Magazine

Though many home care agencies like Bayada were fairly mature in their mobile technology when COVID-19 arrived, Malinowski says the pandemic forced others in the healthcare community, such as hospitals and clinics, to catch up.

The most interesting thing thats happened is the velocity of change in digital adoption, where healthcare historically lags, he says.

At Bayada, Malinowskis team is looking to continue its momentum with additional digital tools.

We expanded our use of Amazon Web Services to deploy more digital tools faster, he adds. Weve doubled down on our use of data analytics.

Data can predict when a patient may need preventive healthcare, and can create efficiencies for Bayada employees as demand for home services continues to grow. Any way we can get ahead of the numbers, the better, Malinowski says.

FIND OUT:How mobility is taking care of patients and providers.

End-of-life home healthcare organization Alive Hospice, headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., focuses on a 12-county region of the state. The company was an early adopter of technology, says Devin Smith, vice president of IT and security, pushing for a HIPAA-compliant videoconferencing solution and developing capabilities for remote health monitoring. Before the pandemic, it had already moved much of its infrastructure to Azure (the agency runs on Microsoft 365).

Alives technology portfolio is on the leading edge, even though were a nonprofit, Smith says.

Donor support propelled Alives Henry Hooker Connect, a telehospice program that uses an app that can be downloaded to any device or given to patients on an Apple iPad device. The app provides hospice patients with around-the-clock access to telehealth professionals.

Like most care-at-home providers, Alive Hospice is focused on providing additional technology to its caregivers and patients to improve the at-home care experience.

Were building more benefits for patients and caregivers, such as online grief and spiritual support, Smith says. Were looking at all kinds of ways to communicate, including video, online chat and virtual reality. Imagine a patient putting on a pair of VR glasses and being able to pull away to relax or meditate.

UP NEXT:Whats in store for the future of at-home acute care?

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How Home Healthcare Organizations Are Staying Connected - HealthTech Magazine