The company caring for my relative is using a specialized tablet that serves as a portal for communication with the nurse(s), therapists and administrative staff (we can contact them anytime directly through the device.
It also has a daily calender that must be filled in every day to confirm that meds were taken at the correct time, weight measured, blood pressure taken --- all within a specific window of time. If we fail to ensure that the data is enterered (blood pressure, weight, meds taken, etc.) by the deadlines specified, we'll receive a call from the nurse asking why it hasn't been done yet and telling us to get on it ASAP.
Other features include educational videos about heart disease (I imagine they have other videos for patients with other conditions), and quizzes that allow the patient to test their knowledge of their disease, dietary restrictions, etc.
We can have video chats with the nurses, therapists and case managers.
While it is a modern tablet (I think with an Android OS), the functionality is limited to that which directly relates to the care of my relative (meaning we can't use it to just browse the web or install apps).
Basically, it's like having a nurse in the home 24/7, only without the costs of paying a nurse to be in the home at all hours.
I don't know the name of the software or the company that makes it, but if you're interested let me know and I'll see if I can find out.
The presence of this device inside our home has made life much easier for family members and my opinion of the company taking care of her couldn't be any higher.
I was literally shocked when they introduced the tablet and instructed us on how to use it. I had no idea that in-home care technology had advanced to the point it has. This is nothing short of remarkable.
Update - 01/03/17
Okay, I did find out the details about the companies utilizing the software described in my initial post, in the event anyone's interested. The company that makes the special tablets is called Medalogix, and the technology they're introducing into the marketplace is going to revolutionize in-home caregiving.
The home health agency that Medalogix is partnered with for the trial of these new devices is called Egan Home Health Care and Hospice. The latter is the one that sent the nurses and therapists out to the house a couple times a week until she no longer needed their assistance and was discharged.
Before being discharged, I made sure to find out the name of the two companies partnering on this software/tablet tech project that made our caregiving duties as relatives 1000x easier and gave us even more peace-of-mind. I highly recommend anyone who has a relative undergoing in-home care look into these two companies and see if they operate in your region.
To quote from the press release Medalogix apparently put out when the agreement between the companies was reached:
“Medalogix came to us with a predictive analytics technology that will help us identify the most appropriate levels of care for our patients,” said Peter Egan, Chief Executive Officer of EGAN Home Health & Hospice. “It will benefit our healthcare delivery system by identifying at an early stage those who may be at risk for health decline and their need to go to the hospital or emergency room. It allows us to put in place interventions to change this. Being able to provide the right level of care at the right time is every health provider’s goal and we believe our partnership with Medalogix will help us greatly in this regard.”
“EGAN is a forward thinking home health and hospice agency that embraces technology in their mission to provide the best patient care,” said Dan Hogan, CEO of Medalogix. “We’re proud to work with them to incorporate analytics and operational intervention workflows into their patient care plans.”
All I can say is that there is no possible way to overstate the importance or the impact of this technology. I would bet that within five years every patient who is ordered home health care for any extended period of time will be receiving one of these nifty little tablets, being shown how to use it and how doing so plays an integral role in the care plan and in making sure the patient is compliant with diet, medicines and whatever else the doctor orders. From their perspective, they want to keep home health patients right there in their homes as opposed to them going back to the hospital. I can definitely see how these tablets woud help to achieve that ends.
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