Nick Knowlton
Apr 5 2022
Reading Time: 4 minutes
By: Nick Knowlton, Vice President of Business Development, ResMed – SaaS
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a general understanding in healthcare that technology was improving and digital transformations would continue to evolve as the industry became increasingly connected. But as the pandemic emerged in a very serious manner in early 2020, it was clear that organizations needed to accelerate their transformations to help ensure the safety of staff and those they serve.
Provider organizations that embraced technology have been more able to continue operations under a new normal and are now aligned with an industry that has evolved to provide higher-quality care in the home. Technology is no longer just a tool staff can use to help meet business goals. It is now an extension of those who use it, taking on entire tasks to help fill the labor gap and driving business outcomes in the process.
In what ways did the COVID-19 pandemic serve as the catalyst of this technology evolution? Here are three ways the pandemic has driven digital transformation in home-based care (and how CitusHealth delivers):
Communication
As social distancing became required at the peak of the pandemic, patients experienced high levels of consumer-centric technology in other parts of their lives, from grocery ordering and tracking to getting a medication prescription filled. Due to rising expectations, healthcare providers needed a way to communicate with patients and family caregivers beyond the traditional methods of phone and email. To truly provide quality remote care, organizations needed to adopt a seamless way to communicate that would make operations more efficient and take engaging patients and caregivers to another level.
With the CitusHealth Message Center, patients, family caregivers, and care teams can communicate with each other in real time with secure instant messaging to discuss plans of care and address issues or concerns. Auto-routing and escalation ensure patients get near-real-time responses and staff can provide better care between visits—during the pandemic and beyond.
Paperwork
Between the labor shortage and the need to social distance, time spent shuffling paperwork, tracking down forms, getting required signatures, and other documentation-related tasks, providers needed to transition to a paperless process with the ability to exchange information electronically. Moving to digital pathways streamlines workflows, speeds up the paper shuffle, and saves time for staff.
With the CitusHealth Document Center and Forms Center, app-less technology can capture signatures securely and digitally and customize forms to meet your data needs—including COVID-19 screenings, disease-specific statuses, state-specific requirements, and more. This can accelerate billing, remove the admin burden for staff, and help prevent unnecessary rehospitalization due to patients falling through care delivery cracks.
Patient education
Fewer in-person visits with patients and caregivers threatened to leave patients feeling less engaged, and thus less participatory in their care plans. By empowering patients and caregivers with knowledge and information about their care, diagnosis, medication, etc., they’re less likely to have urgent questions between visits and they feel more connected with their care teams knowing they’ve been educated on all their needs.
With the CitusHealth Education Center, patients and families get on-demand, digital access to customized educational materials any time from any device. This keeps them on track with their treatment plans during a time when it’s easy to disengage.
While COVID-19 accelerated the need for care in the home, the demand for home-based care was on the rise well before the pandemic arrived. Patients prefer the comfort of their homes, it’s safe and low cost, and telehealth has made it more accessible. What the pandemic did do, however, was make digital transformations toward this kind of care a need—not a want—propelling organizations toward a new era of technology that continues to evolve and address the challenges that face home-based care.
With CitusHealth on the forefront of that evolution, we’re excited to see how impactful the technology has been for our providers and the patients they serve.
Schedule a demo today to learn more about how CitusHealth can help your organization navigate this phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and our emerging new normal.
