Mobile Technology in Home Care

1
Mobile Technology in Home Care

• Randy Cleghorne
• Director, IT/CTO
• Visiting Nurse Service of NY

2
The Organization

• The Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) is
  the largest not-for-profit Home Health Care
  agency in the nation. In 2005 VNSNY provided
  2,200,000 professional home visits to more than
  115,200 patients
• Its over 2,500 Clinicians utilize mobile
  technology to assist in the delivery of care
• Approximately 160 Coordinators in hospitals use
  mobility products for point of care coordination.

3
The Organization

• VNSNY provides the following in-home services
• Rehabilitation
• Senior Care, Long Term Health Care
• Private Care Home Health Aides
• Children Family Services (pregnancy, new Mom,
  Baby, Child, Adolescent)
• Hospice Care
• Mental Health
• Special Medical Condition Care

4
Mobility in VNSNY

• VNSNY utilizes the following mobile technologies
• Tablet PC and Convertibles
• Wireless LAN
• Wireless WAN
• Cell Phones

5
Mobility in VNSNY

• Clinicians and Coordinators use in-house
  developed applications that give them an
  electronic medical record (EMR) enabling them to
  continue with service delivery and point of care
  coordination even in emergencies.
• 9/11
• Blackout of 2003
• Local Blackouts effecting Data Center

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Mobility in VNSNY

• During the home visit, Clinicians are able to
  gather the following information
• Patient demographics
• Primary and secondary physician information
• Contact information for family
• Patient signature for care
• Medications
• Wound images
• Document plan of care changes

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Before Mobility in VNSNY

• Prior to Mobile solution
• Clinicians tracked information on paper forms
• Administrative staff entered data at office into
  mainframe
• Clinicians carried large amount of paperwork to
  each visit
• Clinicians spent more time in the office than
  with patients completing forms

8
After Mobility in VNSNY

• Mobile technology provides the following gains
  for VNS
• Reduced paperwork
• Access to data by administrators, coordinators,
  auditors, and alternate clinical staff
• Consistency of data
• Elimination of data entry after visit

9
Mobility in VNSNY

• Wireless WAN technology is being used by
  Coordinators in Hospitals and Nursing Homes in
  order to facilitate coordination of Care
• Clinicians carry cell phones for quick
  communications with physicians office or VNS
  office

10
Data Exchange

• The data collected is being shared with different
  sources
• Physicians Physician Web Portal
• HEAL NY Grant participants
• Participation in RHIOs
• Future Data Exchanges
• Patient/Family Portal

11
Future Mobility in VNSNY

• Evaluation of new Mobile hardware is underway.
• Durability
• Lightweight
• Battery Life
• Devices with integrated Wireless WAN are being
  evaluated
• Always on
• Improved communications

12
Questions

• Contact information
• 212-609-5530