The Caregiver Innovation Show
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The Caregiver Innovation Show
Scaling Support Without Adding Staff
We examine how virtual care technology is addressing the nationwide caregiver shortage crisis while 10,000 Americans turn 65 daily and chronic conditions affect nearly half the population.
• Task differentiation strategy divides responsibilities between human caregivers and technology
• AddisonCare handles routine tasks like medication reminders and vital sign monitoring, freeing up to 30% of caregiver time
• One agency increased patient capacity by 28% without hiring additional staff
• Caregivers report higher job satisfaction from "practicing at the top of their license"
• Implementation saw 32% improvement in caregiver retention rates
• Even clients in their 90s adapted quickly to the user-friendly interface
• New Medicare billing opportunities for remote monitoring added $4,200+ monthly revenue
• Initial investment costs recovered within just two months
• Successful implementation requires starting small, finding internal champions, and clear communication
• Best candidate patients include those with chronic conditions needing regular monitoring
Join us next time as we dive deeper into how AddisonCare specifically addresses chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, CHF, and COPD, examining monitoring tools and patient outcomes.
You know you're facing a real crunch if you're trying to deliver quality care. Right now, we're looking at a shortage of what over 450,000 caregivers across the country.
Speaker 2:It's staggering.
Speaker 1:And then you add in 10,000 Americans turning 65 every single day.
Speaker 2:Every day.
Speaker 1:And nearly half of us are dealing with a chronic condition. It just feels like an impossible equation sometimes. How do you give the support needed with the resources you actually have?
Speaker 2:It really does shine a light on the limits of you know the old ways of doing things. The numbers alone tell you that just hiring more and more people, well, it's just not going to work long term.
Speaker 1:No, it's not sustainable.
Speaker 2:That gap between demand and what's available is just too big.
Speaker 1:And that's exactly why we wanted to do this deep dive. Today we're looking at a really interesting strategy for tackling this. How can you scale up support without constantly adding staff? Yeah, we're focusing on a virtual care solution. It's called Addison Care from Electronic Caregiver. It seems like a way to really get to grips with this shortage.
Speaker 2:And to make this really practical, we've been looking closely at an agency that was right in the thick of it, facing these exact same issues.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:They decided to bring AddisonCare into their workflow, and what we're sharing today is really the key stuff the insights we pulled from their actual experience with it.
Speaker 1:Right. So our goal here is to really understand how this tech lets existing teams do more, reach more people. We want to get into the nuts and bolts the results they saw and maybe find those aha moments that can help others thinking about this Definitely. So let's start with where this agency was before AddisonCare. What were the big hurdles they were up against?
Speaker 2:Well, it was a pretty typical situation. Honestly, Lots of agencies are seeing this. Demand for their services was going up, which sounds good, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, on the surface.
Speaker 2:But they just couldn't find and keep enough qualified caregivers to meet it. Simple as that.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:So they were actually having to turn away potential clients about 15 to 20 every month.
Speaker 1:Oof. That's got to have a knock-on effect. It's not just lost revenue, or?
Speaker 2:slowed growth? No, exactly. But the emotional side too, knowing you can't help everyone who needs it in your area. Precisely, it was that mix of the business side and just genuinely wanting to serve their community that pushed them to look for different answers and that brings us to the real core idea behind why AddisonCare works this concept of task differentiation.
Speaker 1:Task differentiation. Okay, let's dig into what that actually means in practice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what's really interesting here is how they started rethinking tasks. You know, instead of the usual model where a human caregiver handles absolutely everything, they started splitting things up which tasks really need that human touch, that judgment, and which ones could well technology handle just as well, maybe even more efficiently.
Speaker 1:Okay, so Addison takes over things like medication reminders.
Speaker 2:Yep Medication reminders, sending out health education info, doing those routine check-in calls, even keeping an eye on vital signs continuously.
Speaker 1:These are all essential things, but they can be pretty repetitive, can't they? Yeah, takes up a lot of time.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely. They figured it was potentially up to 30 percent of a caregiver's time, just on those routine checks and then writing it all down 30 percent. And that's where the scalability really kicks in. When you offload those specific tasks to the tech Right, your existing team suddenly has more bandwidth. They can support more people.
Speaker 1:So like if Addison does those quick 10-minute check-ins for, say, 10 patients.
Speaker 2:Yeah, think about it. That frees up nearly two hours for a caregiver time. They can now spend on trickier patient issues or maybe even take on another client or two.
Speaker 1:That makes a lot of sense. That's a big driver for increasing capacity, then.
Speaker 2:It's a huge part of it.
Speaker 1:And the results they saw really back this up, don't they?
Speaker 2:They do. After just six months with Addison Care, this agency saw a 28% increase in patient capacity.
Speaker 1:Wow, 28%.
Speaker 2:And, crucially, without adding any new staff.
Speaker 1:That's pretty substantial.
Speaker 2:It is. It really shows what you can do when you apply technology thoughtfully in this space. But it's not just the numbers, it's also the human side. The agency reported much higher job satisfaction from their caregivers.
Speaker 1:Which kind of makes sense, doesn't it If?
Speaker 2:you go into caregiving.
Speaker 1:You want to connect, make a difference Exactly, Not just do routine reminders all day. Spending more time on complex stuff would feel more rewarding, I imagine.
Speaker 2:That's what they found. They specifically mentioned caregivers felt they were using their actual skills and training more. The phrase they used was practicing at the top of their license.
Speaker 1:Oh, I like that.
Speaker 2:That feeling of professional fulfillment really boosted morale and, maybe the most important part, the clients felt more supported.
Speaker 1:More.
Speaker 2:That's interesting. They had 247 access if they needed something. Those reminders were super consistent, maybe more than a busy human could always be, and the regular vital sign checks gave them this extra layer of, you know, security peace of mind.
Speaker 1:So it's not just doing more with less.
Speaker 2:It sounds like it actually improved the quality of support too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was the feedback. Yes, okay, so bringing in new tech can feel daunting sometimes. How did it actually work on the ground? What did the rollout look like?
Speaker 2:That's a really key question. They were smart about it. They phased it in, didn't try to switch everyone over at once. They started small, with a pilot group of just 10 patients 10, manageable. Right. These were people with chronic conditions needing regular monitoring, but generally stable.
Speaker 1:Got it? And what about training? Was it a big lift for the caregivers and the patients?
Speaker 2:They did training for both. Yeah, but what was really encouraging was how quickly the older clients got used to it.
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, AddisonCare is designed to be pretty user-friendly. Standard Wi-Fi uses natural voice commands. Think kind of like talking to a smart speaker. You know, Okay, intuitive Very. They even said some natural voice commands.
Speaker 1:Think kind of like talking to a smart speaker, you know, okay, intuitive Very.
Speaker 2:They even said some clients in their 90s people you might think would struggle were comfortable with it in just a few days.
Speaker 1:That's huge, because there's often this assumption isn't there that older folks won't take to virtual care?
Speaker 2:Exactly, but this experience really pushes back on that.
Speaker 1:Now I know, whenever we talk about tech and healthcare, there's the workforce question. Were caregivers worried about?
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely. Initially there were concerns job displacement, reduced hours. It's understandable, sure. So the agency tackled that head on. They were really clear in their communication Addison is here to help you, to enhance what you do, not replace you.
Speaker 1:So framing it as a tool.
Speaker 2:Exactly the message was this handles the routine stuff so you can focus on the complex care, the things that need your empathy and skills.
Speaker 1:And it sounds like that landed well, given the boost in satisfaction you mentioned earlier.
Speaker 2:It really did, Once caregivers actually felt the relief less time on repetitive tasks, more time for meaningful interaction.
Speaker 1:Practicing at the top of their license.
Speaker 2:Right, that initial hesitation just turned into real enthusiasm. And here's a kicker they saw a 32% improvement in caregiver retention 32% In this industry.
Speaker 1:that's massive.
Speaker 2:It's a remarkable outcome. High turnover is such a problem, wow.
Speaker 1:Okay, so keeping staff happy and engaged is obviously critical. We've covered more patients, happier staff. Let's talk money. That's always key for an agency.
Speaker 2:Right, and what's interesting here is that it's kind of a double benefit financially, so first they're serving more patients with the same staff, which helps the bottom line, but Addison also opened up new ways to get paid.
Speaker 1:How so.
Speaker 2:Through Medicare's billing codes for remote patient monitoring, rpm and chronic care management, or CCM.
Speaker 1:Ah, ok, explain those a bit.
Speaker 2:Basically, medicare recognizes the value of this kind of ongoing remote care, so they reimburse agencies for providing it.
Speaker 1:And what kind of numbers are we talking about per patient?
Speaker 2:For each Medicare patient using Addison under these programs, the agency could bill somewhere between $58 and $115 a month.
Speaker 1:Per patient per month. Per patient per month, yeah, but revenue they just couldn't access before. So let's see they had about 60 Medicare patients on it. That's over $4,200 in new revenue every month.
Speaker 2:Exactly, that's a pretty significant bump.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no kidding.
Speaker 2:It just shows how the right tech can improve care, reach and the financial health of the agency. They also mentioned they made back the initial setup costs.
Speaker 1:Two months, that's a fast ROI.
Speaker 2:Very fast.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's a strong case.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So for agencies, listening, maybe, thinking all right, this sounds good, but where would we even start? What advice would you give based on this experience?
Speaker 2:I'd say definitely follow their lead. Start small Pilot program, maybe 10, 15 patients.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Mix it up a bit, include folks with different chronic conditions so you can see how it works across the board, and focus first on the things that give immediate value.
Speaker 1:Like the medication, reminders and vital signs.
Speaker 2:Exactly Get some quick wins, show it works.
Speaker 1:Makes sense, what else?
Speaker 2:Find someone inside your organization, an internal champion, someone who's excited about it, who can lead the charge, answer questions, smooth things over if there's resistance.
Speaker 1:Good point, a point person.
Speaker 2:Definitely and start looking into those Medicare billing funds right away, showing that financial benefit early helps build momentum.
Speaker 1:And communication. You mentioned how important that was with staff earlier.
Speaker 2:Crucial, absolutely vital. Be crystal clear with your team and your clients about why you're doing this. Emphasize how it supports and enhances care. It's not about replacing people. It's about making the care better, more efficient. When everyone understands the why and the benefits, they're much more likely to get on board.
Speaker 1:Right, okay. So, wrapping this up, the main takeaway seems to be that, yeah, scaling support without just hiring more people is possible. It is If you strategically use tech to make the most of the team you have. And that key idea, that aha moment, is really about differentiating tasks, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Exactly. Let tech handle the routine. Let humans handle the complex, the empathetic.
Speaker 1:Right and thinking bigger picture. With the caregiver shortage we talked about, this example really shows that innovation isn't just nice to have anymore.
Speaker 2:No, it's becoming essential for survival, for growth in health care. It makes you wonder, you know, how else could this idea, tech augmenting human skills be used in other parts of health care?
Speaker 1:That's a great thought to leave people with. Now, for anyone listening who wants to dive deeper into the how-to, we do have info on getting a comprehensive implementation guide and looking ahead Our next deep dive. We're going to get more specific about Addison care and chronic conditions things like diabetes, hypertension, chf, copd.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we'll look at the specific monitoring tools and the actual patient outcomes they're seeing for those conditions.
Speaker 1:So definitely join us for that next discussion. We'll get into even more detail and results.
Speaker 2:Looking forward to it.
Speaker 1:And until then, let's keep exploring these kinds of solutions. Hopefully, we can tackle this caregiver crisis together. You know, one innovation at a time.
