The pandemic changed expectations for post-acute care providers, requiring new technology investments for care coordination and delivery.
During a Nov. 16 panel at the Becker's Healthcare Post-Acute Virtual Forum, post-acute care leaders gathered to outline the most essential technology for the post-acute care setting today.
The panel featured:
- Ernesto Lopez, CEO of Hospice of Washington County in Hagerstown, Md.
- Constance Morrison, division vice president over home health and hospice for Rocky Mountain Care in Woods Cross, Utah
- Margie Latrella, director of quality and clinical services at St. Joseph's Health Partners in Lexington, Ky.
Click here to view the session on demand. Note: these responses are lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What is one thing post-acute care providers can do today to build a strong foundation for the future?
Constance Morrison: You have to commit to technology and use it; don't make a workaround. If you buy a product and then you're trying to work around it, because it doesn't do what you need it to do, you're going to make yourself crazy. We have found that staff figure, 'well, it doesn't work the way I want it to, so I'm going to work harder to make it work.' Embrace technology and use it. You can get the data you need, and then know your data is giving you really good information. Make sure the data you get is accurate, and take action based on the data, whether it's something as mundane as productivity or important as quality scores. You can really see how your patients are doing with things like readmissions or their ER visits. I'm always able to make people accountable based on the data.
Ernesto Lopez: As a post-acute provider, we have to stay relevant. We are better positioned than many other types of healthcare providers to weather the storm of uncertainty because we're accustomed to working remotely, we're accustomed to being decentralized, and our ability to manage patients symptoms and help coordinate care gives us tremendous leverage. It allows us to provide real value to healthcare. If we can provide excellent care and stay connected with our patients during this time, that will be important for the next few months and looking into the future.
Margie Netela: I think alignment is huge coming from the acute side moreso. The alignment between the post-acute facilities, the visiting nurse services and hospice is important. We are able to share some of the same technologies where possible, or have some of these overlays where technology and data can be shared. Cloud-based technologies allow people to work off the same information. I think that's best for patient care and quality, especially while making the transitions from hospital to home, home, post-acute to skilled nursing facilities, whatever they might be. Working together and sharing the same information is best for everybody involved and will really increase the quality of patient care.