Home Health Technology and Reading Clients’ Social Cues

Improving In-Home Patient Care by Equipping Home Care Technology and Home Care Workers To Identify Emotional Cues and Concerns 

Individuals receiving some form of care within the home may experience feelings of isolation or sadness.  Some home care patients may desire a friendly conversation or a stroll down memory lane.  However, as the shift towards immediacy and technology dominate the home care industry, the already isolated patients feel more detached from the outside world.  

Unfamiliar or uncomfortable with technology, home care clients often feel like they are competing for attention and care with a smartphone or a tablet in the hands of the care provider.  They watch as their provider taps screen, completes a checklist, and does not make eye contact as often as the client wants. The technology feels cold, distant, and impersonal for the patient, causing an undesirable gap of much needed human interaction.  More importantly, the home care worker could be missing important cues that may signal that additional concerns should be addressed.

Electronic Visit Verification, for example, is a powerful force in today’s home health care forum.  Extraordinary time is currently dedicated to EVV and the 21st Century Cures Act that the human element in home care has been overlooked and underestimated.  Albeit, Electronic Visit Verification would not be the module for home care workers to directly address or identify cues or concerns, but with the right platform, it can be a catalyst for training workers to ascertain patients’ psychosocial needs. Home care workers’ roles will continue to expand, most obviously as users of technology, but they must also be trained to identify clients’ emotional cues and concerns and modify care plans accordingly if barriers to care to exist.

A link between receptive psychological and social communication can lead to improved patient outcomes.  According to a study entitled “Older Persons’ Worries Expressed During Home Care Visits: Exploring the Content of Cues and Concerns Identified by the Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences,” published in Patient Education and Counseling,“VRCoDES is a validated method for identifying patients’ expressions of unpleasant emotions in their communications with health personnel . . . Patients’ concerns and cues to emotional issues can be seen as a window of opportunity to capture the person’s perspective and experience of a situation.”  While VRCoDES is a European model used to study health provider-patient communication sequences, the basic application to the U.S. home care setting is important.  

In addition to following a care plan, monitoring changes in condition, identifying care gaps, and verifying basic services under the Cures Act, home care workers should have advanced training in verbal and non-verbal cues that signal specific patients’ worries concerning health, relationships, issues of aging and capacity, and the opportunity to communicate life narratives and value issues.When the home care worker can establish a reciprocal, social relationship with his/her patient, the quality of care is strengthened, and preventative measures can have a long-lasting impact.  This process goes beyond a simple checklist of mood or feelings that are added to the patients’ electronic record.  

The added human feature of eliciting verbal communication from a patient is proactive, moreover, it becomes crucial information transferred to the entire care team, and acts as an intervention tool that can reduce readmissions or decompensation events.  Home care software platforms that incorporate such applications can leverage data to reduce FWA, increase the quality of care, and decrease readmission rates. Working in tandem for a common good, technology, and home care workers can create a relationship with a patient that is based on genuine care and concern expressed verbally and non-verbally.  

About Sinq Technologies         

Sinq’s collaborative software technology platform was built with a purpose in mind.  Sinq’s Care Plan Transparency, Care Gap Management, EVV / EvS, and Change in Care Monitoring makes Sinq’s software stand out within the industry, and with Payors, Providers, and Plans.  We can help you become compliant, but our expansive software offers long-term solutions for the betterment of your agency and clients.  Call today for more information, a free demo, or a consultation at (847) 325-5007, or visit us at www.sinq.io

Home Care Technology Bridges More Than Care Gaps

Handoffs and Being in a Gap – Unique Home Care Problems with Specialized Solutions

In an industry that is trying to grapple with new regulations, mandates, corporate mergers, high turnover rates, EVV technology, and a very large baby-boomer population, home health care and home care clients face similar unknowns.  The complicated nature of home health care coupled with effects it has on patients’ care are well documented, however, there are innovations that can make the home care dynamic more effective.

If one were to examine obstacles to quality care within the home care setting, he or she will soon realize that many intricate pieces must coalesce to create perfectly choreographed home care.  However, that does not mean the machinations driving continuum of care is forever flawed.

One example of fixable problem is illustrated by a study that shows a correlation between home health nurse handoffs and hospital readmission rates.According to Guy David and Kunhee Lucy Kim’s article, “The Effect of Workforce Assignment on Performance:  Evidence from Home Health Care,” published this month in the Journal of Health Economics, “a single handoff [a marker of care discontinuity] increases the likelihood of 30-day hospital readmission by 16 percent and one in four hospitalizations during home health care would be avoided if handoffs were eliminated. ”

Another barrier to quality home care is a wide-scale lack of organization experienced by home care patients.  In Home Health Care Management and Practice,MargarethaNorellPejner and Elisabeth Brobeck researched couples between ages 65-80 and their experiences of received home care.  They categorized their findings into three categories: organizational adapted; withholding; and being in a gap. 

In brief, patients expressed concern over their support being limiting and not adapting to their individual needs, receiving insufficient information about care and processes, segmented knowledge of necessary care, and “not knowing where or who to turn to in case someone needed support was a struggle leading to a sense of being left in a gap. ”

In the first study, the problem is not that home care patients are readmitted to hospitals because more home care nurses are caring for them.  The issue lies with the information being ‘handed off’ to other care team members.Information must be specific, accurate, valid, and fresh for it to be effective.  

In the second study, the concerns were not based in the patients’ misunderstanding of the care, but the miscommunication among the entire care team.Further, transparent and consistent information sharing becomes the most critical element in reducing the impacts of incomplete handoffs and visibility. Fragmented information delivers fragmented care without the cohesion necessary to raise quality in a distributed care environment such as home care.

The importance of hospital-to-home care transition, education, and information portability should not be underestimated, and value-based care depends on these processes to be performed systematically. Regulations may not address such issues, but supporting technology can reduce readmission rates, and help the care team decrease inefficiencies with scheduling and detrimental gaps in the field.  Home care technology can also help clients become knowledgeable participants of their care plans.  Collaborative home care platforms, real-time visit alerts and EVV, care gaps and Change in Condition can only be beneficial if the entire care implements robust reports for the sake of providing quality care.

About Sinq Technologies 

 Sinq’s full-service, collaborative software platform was built with purpose in mind.  Sinq’s Care Plan Transparency, Care Gap Management, EVV, and Change in Care Monitoring makes Sinq’s software stand out within the industry.  We can help you become compliant, but our expansive software offers long-term solutions for the betterment of your agency and clients.  Call today for more information, a free demo, or a consultation at (847) 325-5007, or visit us at www.sinq.io

Preserving the Integrity and Numbers of Direct Care Work Force

Preventative Measures to Strengthen the Future Role of Home Care Workers

Myriad occupations across the United States are teeming with individuals who are hardworking, dedicated, and fulfilled because they are helping others in some form.   Many people conduct important work for the good of society and its members and inherently care for those they serve.  Unfortunately, the same jobs may experience higher than average turnover rates and low job satisfaction.  

One important field of work that needs special attention is that of the home care worker.  Statistics, projections, and studies attest to the growing problem facing the imminent, disproportionate home-care worker to in-home patient ratio.  

While the home care industry may be at risk, more importantly, is that millions of citizens who currently receive in-home care coupled with the millions who will be eligible for care in the future will not experience quality care from a collaborative care team. 

Proactive measures, including the leveraging technology with care being provided, can be employed to save the direct care workforce and ensure that the entire guidance of care experience proves beneficial not only to the patients but to the workers as well.

An individual or family member who does not rely on in-home care may find it difficult to imagine how the home care worker shortage impacts his/her life.  However, as more citizens are aging in place, and as the aging population grows exponentially, one must be forward thinking about his/her future care, and about the quality of care his/her loved ones will receive.  

According to Eduardo Porter of the New York Times, there will be a shortage of 350,000 paid care providers by 2040, the Department of Labor projects that 1 million more home care workers will be needed by 2026, and there will be 50 million disabled people in the U.S. by 2040 who will be in need of long-term care.  

While the 85 and older population was 1.8% in 2010, that number will rise to 4.5% in 2050. This perfect-storm scenario can be viewed as an opportunity to enhance the home care experience by empowering the care team with home care technology.  

Technology is not the panacea for all home health care issues, but with effective execution, it can allow home care workers to focus on their patients and provide quality care.  By equipping home care workers with a solid home care technology platform that improves workflow and processes, they will be able to realize their passion for caring for others in need.  Administrative duties, paperwork responsibilities, scheduling, and billing are time-consuming tasks that take away from home care workers and the care team.  

Home care technology will allow home care workers to communicate with their home care clients about their care and will improve communication among nurses, doctors, families, and other caregivers.  Their symbiotic relationship will be a coordinated effort to educate everyone about care plans, gaps in care, changes in condition, and the effectiveness of the care provided.

Most importantly, home care providers will be empowered, feel their time is utilized more effectively and will be appreciated by the patients and the team.  According to an article by De Root, Maurits, and Francke entitled “Attractiveness of working in home care,” the home care workers want to feel like ‘linchpins’, “in the sense of being the leading professional and with the patient as the center of care. 

Home‐care nurses also find having autonomy attractive: autonomy over decision‐making about care, freedom in work scheduling and working in a self‐directed team. ” Lastly, technology will play a part concerning ‘altercasting’,“a compliance-gaining technique using social roles to govern behavior, is well suited for the home care context. ” Home care aides take the roles of parent, trainer, employee, and friend, and this skill is proven to convince clients to complete necessary tasks of daily living, and caregivers feel rewarded and appreciated on various levels.

The collaborative, customized technology and software created by Sinq Technologies is used daily by home care workers and continues to transform how care is delivered.  Robust reports and data monitored and applied to care plans by experienced, appreciated, dignified home care specialists for informed, respected clients and their families positions software platform well within the future of quality home health care. 

About Sinq Technologies         

Sinq’s full-service, collaborative software platform was built with a purpose in mind.  Sinq’s Care Plan Transparency, Care Gap Management, EVV, and Change in Care Monitoring makes Sinq’s software stand out within the industry.  We can help you become compliant, but our expansive software offers long-term solutions for the betterment of your agency and clients.  Call today for more information, a free demo, or a consultation at (847) 325-5007, or visit us at www.sinq.io

The Benefits of Advancement and Transparency In Home Health CareTechnology

History of Resistance to New Technologies Points toLong-Term Benefits of Electronic Visit Verification

Home health care technology is playing an increasingly important role for millions of people who receive long-term care within the comfort of their own homes.  As a supportive tool used by caregivers to enhance a patient’s home care experience, quality technology enables more and more people to live independently, age in place, and retain their dignity. 

While the aging population is undergoing tremendous growth, the caregiver sector is shrinking.  This population disparity will negatively impact the quality of home health care unless caregivers embrace, and are empowered with, technology to conduct their work productively. 

However, with the 21st Century Cures Act EVV mandate deadline looming January 1, 2019, home care agencies and home care workers are faced with trepidation caused by inevitable change.  Is this technological resistance unprecedented?  Since history tends to repeat itself, time will prove that home care agencies, home care workers, and patients will all benefit from home care technology. 

Home care technology and EVV is now in the same category as seat belts and coffee.  The first seat belt was patented in 1885 and was still being opposed by lawmakers in the 1980s.  Coffee was banned throughout history due to fear– 5 times through 1511 to 1777.

While these are arbitrary examples, they illustrate how simple advancements were initially viewed.  According to CalestousJuma in his book Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies, “resistance to new technologies is heightened when the public perceives that the benefits of new technologies will only accrue to a small section of society, while the risks are likely to be widespread. ”

Home care technology is currently benefiting a large section of society, and its rewards outweigh the risks. While the dialogue is ongoing across the U.S. related to Electronic Visit Verification, and many people are struggling with change, one certain result will progress. Yes, EVV is a mandate, but technology should be a welcomed ally. 

EVV compliance may evoke images of forceful change, but being compliant is simple.  To reap the true advantages of home care software, one must go beyond basic compliance and realize the immeasurable uses technology offers to people receiving care within the home. 

The technology and software used in home care will lead to better healthcare, reduction in Fraud, Waste, and Abuse, decreases in hospital readmissions, and countless other benefits.

What can you do to prepare and embrace the technological changes in home health care?  First, make sure your technology partner works collaboratively with you to determine your overall goals.  Secondly, verify that the software company will work with you to learn and implement the technology into your business.

Lastly, choose a quality software platform that will provide your entire Care Team real-time transparency.  Sinq’sCare Plan Transparency, Care Gap Management, EVV, and Change in Care Monitoring makes Sinq’s software stand out within the industry.

We can help you become compliant, but our expansive software offers long-term solutions for the betterment of your agency and clients. Call today for more information, a free demo, or a consultation at (847) 325-5007, or visit us at www.sinq.io

Evaluating Intention and Its Role in the Effective Use of Home Health Care Technology

The Perilous Relationship Between Compliance and Purpose

The center of attention of the 21st Century Cures Act Electronic Visit Verification requirement lies the concern of many citizens about the intention of the mandate. EVV stakeholder meetings across the United States continue to address and educate concerned citizens, home care workers, and patients about the intrinsic purpose of home care technology.

The importance of a healthy dialogue should not be underestimated; however, the mention of a mandate and deadline can cause undue stress and discord. It is at this critical juncture where invested parties should view intention and purpose carefully when considering home care technology software and services.

Some individuals perceive home care technology as intrusive, burdensome, unreliable, and unnecessary. Their ideas are not unprecedented, and they are worthwhile criticisms of evolving technology.

There are also beliefs that companies will see the mandate as an opportunity to make money, provide minimal services, and not be held accountable for imperfect products. Once again, these ideas are not unwarranted and may, unfortunately, prove true.

Misguided, ill-intended purpose has plagued the healthcare world for years, especially Medicaid/Medicare, home health care, and improper payments ($2.6 Billion in 2017). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General keeps records of Criminal and Civil Enforcement, and the trail of abuse is endless.

The intention of effective home care technology should be to make a fundamental difference in home health care.  The purpose of a home care software company should not be quantity over quality, nor profit over value.

Chris Wondra’s article, “Motivation, Purpose and Samuel Pierpont Langley,” explores the idea of intention and the relationship between Langley and the Wright brothers.

Given all the money he needed, with the Smithsonian and Harvard backing his efforts, Langley was unable to do what the Wright brothers did with the limited money they made from their bicycle shop – achieve powered, human-controlled flight.  They achieved their goal with relentless trial and error, and they had help from people who did not want money, fame, or rewards.

The Wrights and their helpers were motivated based on the belief that by working together they could change the world. Langley could have capitalized on the Wright’s achievements, but he immediately abandoned his efforts because his purpose was denied.

The intention and vast, beneficial capabilities of home care technology is overshadowed by the 21st Century Cures Act Mandate, specifically the EVV component. Quality of lives will improve, and more lives will be saved not because of compliance, but because a company cares about providing the best services for providers. To be myopic concerning home care technology and the Cures Act mandate can be detrimental.

Compliance should not steer purpose when it comes to possessing the best technology to serve a vulnerable population.  It is important to look at the entire software platform not through the lens of EVV, but through the window of long-term, effective care.

While the EVV mandate is not going to disappear, the opportunity for technology to be more robust to meet the mandate will create immeasurable advantages across the continuum of care, including closing care gaps, monitoring changes in care, reducing hospital readmissions and FWA, and ensuring quality care for all.

About Sinq Technologies

Sinq’s full-service, collaborative software platform was built with the purpose in mind. Sinq’s Care Plan Transparency, Care Gap Management, EVV, and Change in Care Monitoring makes Sinq’s software stand out within the industry. We can help you become compliant, but our expansive software offers long-term solutions for the betterment of your agency and clients. Call today for more information, a free demo, or a consultation at (847) 325-5007, or visit us at www.sinq.io