Thomas Dahlborg at Hospital Impact has an excellent blog post about why technology is a significant part of the solution to care for older people living with chronic conditions, not a replacement for “an ear, a shoulder, an open heart, undivided attention and time” from a human advocate. In fact “Betty,” 75, easily represents the one in three seniors who have 3 ore more chronic conditions, one of the risk factors for re-hospitalizations when discharged without coordinated care.
SeniorBridge care manager, Karen Knutson, and her client of 8 years, Nancy Crawford celebrating 100 years of healthy living
We are incredibly proud of the recognition SeniorBridge has received for our leadership in using technology to improve elder care from organizations including The New York Times and Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP). But it’s our coordinated care model that results in 82% fewer hospitalizations of seniors compared to national data that makes the most important difference.
Our mobile electronic medical records, tele-medicine, tele-care management and SeniorBridge Skype programs only empower our geriatric care management team of licensed nurses, licensed social workers and certified in-home caregivers to improve health outcomes and functions.
Thanks, Thomas, for sharing what was ultimately a happy ending and best regards to “Betty”!
I’m Editor, North America for Telecare Aware, an international news and information website covering technology in eHealth, wireless and mobile health.
There’s a definite reluctance by some, especially in home care, to use technology as part of effective care. One recent survey stated that only 23% of home care agencies use any telehealth devices (Fazzi, National State of the Home Care Industry). I saw this reluctance to change culture as a marketer for a telecare service, QuietCare. Glad to see that SeniorBridge is taking the lead in advocating adoption of technology as an integral part of home care to change this mindset.
Our article covering Dr. Rackow’s interview with MedHealthWorld is here: http://www.telecareaware.com/index.php/seniorbridge-rmp-and-skype-us.html