Staffing shortages and low employee engagement are among the most pressing challenges care at home organizations face today. While the struggle to find and retain qualified caregivers, coupled with the need to keep existing staff motivated and satisfied, can feel overwhelming, technology offers powerful solutions to “hack” these challenges and tap into a more productive workforce.

SimiTree Senior Manager Claudia Baker and Axxess Senior Vice President of Sales Adrian Killebrew convened at the Axxess Growth, Innovation and Leadership Experience (AGILE) to discuss current workforce challenges in care at home and offer actionable strategies for success.

Their conversation centered on three key elements: interoperability, artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual care.

Interoperability

Killebrew started the conversation by discussing interoperability, advocating for care at home organizations to adopt an EMR platform that facilitates effortless data exchange between diverse healthcare technologies.

“Interoperability is the seamless exchange of data and information between different healthcare information systems regardless of vendor platform or format,” said Killebrew. “Most of you in this room leverage some sort of EMR. … You want that EMR to be able to partner with [a wide array of other] organizations and technologies out there that have the ability to solve your challenges. … Interoperability is so important because you want to be able to get to the point where you can access a single device and … do everything that you need to do in the course of the day.”

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Killebrew also highlighted the value of EMR platforms that leverage AI algorithms to streamline documentation and administrative processes and transform manual tasks into automated systems.

“[There are] tools available that will take the repetitive activities that your team has to do and really turn those into automated workflows,” said Killebrew. “And the goal is really to take as much of that weight off of your team as possible. … You need a [forward-thinking technology] partner to help make that happen.”

Baker emphasized two forms of AI that she believes are particularly useful for driving productivity and enhancing patient care: clinical analytics and predictive analytics.

• Clinical Analytics

Clinical analytics refers to the collection, analysis and interpretation of healthcare data to inform clinical decision-making.

“A good example would be maybe a home health algorithm that looks at a patient’s medication data, looks at their vital signs, looks at how active they are, because we can measure all those things, and then … [recommends] the next actions,” Baker said. “Maybe it’s to go see somebody a couple times this week instead of just once.”

• Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics refers to the use of data to predict future events and trends.

“[For example, with] heart failure patients, if they start to gain weight, if they start to have shortness of breath, we know all those signs,” Baker said. “So, if we’re capturing that data, that historical information, then we have good insight into what might happen in the future. That’s what predictive analytics is all about. … Who wouldn’t want to use that?”

Virtual Care

Baker explained that virtual care, including telehealth, telemedicine, wearable devices and robotic assistants, enhances both the workforce and patient experience by facilitating seamless remote patient engagement and oversight.

“The benefit of all of these things in home care [is that they give clinicians] increased accessibility to patients,” said Baker.

Baker and Killebrew concluded the session by encouraging organizations to assess their current operations and identify areas where integrating these elements can streamline processes, enhance productivity or improve care delivery.

“If we were to give you some prescriptive steps today, we would say the first thing would be to assess what’s happening from a technology perspective within your organization, so not only your EMR but how you’re leveraging technology as a whole,” said Killebrew. “Are there things that you can do to enhance the experience of your employees and your workforce? … How can [you] redesign elements of [your] business that maybe today are labor intensive but it’s the same task over and over again? … I guarantee you that there is somebody [who] is fully aware that you’re doing that task … and has developed something … to streamline that process.”

Axxess’ cloud-based software solutions provide healthcare organizations with a comprehensive technological infrastructure, empowering them to deliver exceptional patient care and achieve sustainable success.