For many people, looking after a loved one with a serious health condition is a choice they gladly make. But that doesn’t make it an easy decision to live with every day. Taking care of someone places an enormous responsibility on your shoulders, as you invest all your time and energy into their wellbeing.
Caregiving can drain your energy, not just because of the physical demands of the task. You can feel like you’re on an emotional rollercoaster as you provide palliative care, with warring feelings of sadness, frustration, and guilt.
Before you know it, you’re exhausted, stressed out, and struggling through caregiver burnout. Sound familiar? Let’s look at what it means to be burnt out as a caregiver and how you can prevent it from interfering with your life.
What is caregiver burnout?
Everyone has a bad day or two where they feel like nothing can go right — that’s completely normal. Caregiver burnout goes above and beyond isolated feelings of fatigue or apathy. It describes the chronic feelings of exhaustion, frustration, and stress that result from looking after another person.
Burnout can happen to anyone, regardless of the work they put into caregiving. Anyone can feel the burn — whether you look after your loved on your own or coordinate with an at-home palliative care service for assistance.
Caregiver burnout can result from working long hours to ensure your loved one always has someone with them. It can also stem from the feeling of hopelessness, especially if you’re looking after a loved one with dementia or another life-limiting disease. You might feel disengaged and worn out.
Vytalize Health, a leading risk-bearing provider enablement platform, announced it has closed $100 million in funding led by Enhanced Healthcare Partners and Monroe Capital, with participation from North Coast Ventures. The new capital will advance its responsible value-based care for seniors proposition by strengthening primary care practices.
“We have a responsibility to ensure the ongoing success of value-based care by building high-performing systems of care that truly advance quality, improve the patient experience, and are sustainable for providers and the system overall. We believe primary care is a key part of the delivery system and that we must protect and reward independent primary care physicians who deliver more data-driven and effective care to patients. In this outcome-based environment, we can focus on real, proactive health care vs. sick care and align our model with what’s better for patients,” said Faris Ghawi, Vytalize Health co-founder and CEO.
Decisions made in the primary care setting have an important impact on healthcare quality and spending, given that primary care physicians influence a significant portion of downstream utilization, including that of specialists, hospitals, and ancillary service providers like home health agencies and nursing homes.
Vytalize Health partners with primary care practices for more than 250,000 patients and offers evidence-based recommendations at the point of care. By delivering the right data at the right time in the workflow to physicians and their staff, Vytalize makes practices more efficient and effective. The platform provides financial incentives to practices that follow recommendations and drive better health outcomes for patients.
Vytalize Health’s approach to improving access to high-quality care also includes operating a virtual and in-home clinic. The organization has launched several initiatives over the past few years, such as the Priority Care program, which leverages data to identify patients with the greatest needs. This program extends the practice’s reach to patients’ homes and incorporates social, economic, and other non-clinical factors in their environment, taking a holistic approach to care.
Healthcare is constantly evolving, with new technologies permanently changing the hospital and care delivery models. Today, medical practitioners are leveraging technology with medical care devices and electronic health records that are kept digitally secure for patients.
Digital communication plays an essential role in the provider-patient relationship, especially in clinical settings, where patients’ health is at stake. Technology benefits patients and practitioners by making their lives easier and files more accessible. However, digitally powered facilities face unique challenges when natural disasters, cyber attacks or power outages strike.
The safety and functionality of medical facilities is paramount, regardless of outside factors. To this end, collaboration solutions, like Zoom, have built local survivability into offerings to help ensure seamless operations under any circumstance. Local survivability enables ongoing communication in healthcare and other industries, allowing organizations to maintain internal and external connectivity, establish on-site safety, serve patients, minimize revenue loss and continue clinical care during outages.
The vital role local survivability and accessibility play in a digitally progressive world
Survivability allows organizations to connect to a local network to continue operations when connectivity is lost. Local survivability can help sustain internal dialing functionality and basic supplementary services to mitigate disruption in case a data network fails and the application server loses connectivity with the storage server. In the case of a natural disaster, vital communication tools, including phones, can be impaired due to failed network connectivity.
In the healthcare industry, this inconvenience becomes life-threatening when examining how practitioners would handle situations that depend on expedient communication. How would a nurse contact a doctor if a patient is experiencing chest pain? How would a doctor at home call an intensivist to get an update on a recently treated patient? Phone uptime is critical in these conditions and more.
FutureRx (FRx) announced today the launch of its first-of-a-kind healthcare platform for health plans and pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) that combines modular technology solutions and, if needed, seamless access to pre-vetted fully integrated service providers on a single platform. FRx is a cloud-based, modular, user-configurable technology platform that was built from the ground up to meet complex and continuously evolving compliance requirements in today’s Medicare and Medicaid environment. As such, it is 100% compliant with government-sponsored regulations out of the box.
Once on the platform, health plan and PBM users can select from a full range of technology modules – including Rx Prior Authorization, Appeals/Grievances, Part D Stars, Drug Management Programs (DMP) and more – that are preconfigured out of the box with workflow and letters, and fully integrated with SureScripts and CoverMyMeds, as well as fax, phone, email, and mail capabilities that eliminate costly and time-consuming implementations.
If additional support service is needed by our customers, the FRx Marketplace provides access to a comprehensive network of pre-vetted partners that deliver a full range of specialized services. These services include, but are not limited to, customer service, formulary and rebate management, prior authorization, appeals and grievance management, mobile low-cost drug alternatives, and more. FRx Marketplace service partners are fully integrated with FRx technology modules for rapid go-to-market and hassle-free service changes.
AGS Health, a leading provider for tech-enabled revenue cycle management (RCM) solutions and strategic growth partner to healthcare providers across the U.S., announces the acquisition of the India-based patient access outsourcing business unit of the Florida-based healthcare technology company Availity.
With more than half of U.S. hospitals anticipating a year of negative margins, achieving full and accurate reimbursement for services has never been more critical. With this expansion, AGS Health is positioned to provide faster, more flexible financial clearance solutions at an even greater scale to help increase customers’ first-pass reimbursements rates.
“At AGS Health, our focus is greater financial freedom for healthcare organizations, allowing them to reinvest in their vision for superior patient care,” said Patrice Wolfe, CEO of AGS Health. “With this acquisition, we can better equip our customers with the tools and expert services necessary to help overcome payer complexities, reduce denial rates, mitigate revenue leakage, and accelerate cash flow on the back end.”
The acquisition allows AGS Health to expand the capabilities of the AGS AI Platform with new technology to enhance accuracy and scalability and further streamline patient access operations. The technology platform is capable of automatically determining, submitting, and verifying the status of prior authorization requests. Additionally, estimates of the patient’s out-of-pocket cost can be automatically generated based on payer rules set by the healthcare organization.
The move will also add approximately 200 patient access service team members to AGS Health’s global team of more than 11,000 college-educated, trained RCM experts. With labor shortages devastating all areas of the healthcare system, outsourced services are more critical than ever – particularly as financial clearance performance depends on access to qualified, skilled labor.
“This acquisition is just part of our continued investment in our customers’ success with automation technology and expert teams,” Wolfe adds. “As growth partners, we are committed to equipping our customers with flexible, modern solutions to mitigate risk and adapt to change. This is part of what we call ‘AI with a human touch’.”
Health monitoring technologies are a healthier and safer way for seniors, especially those who want to age in place. It improves older adults’ quality of life while making them more independent, boosting their self-esteem. Health monitoring technologies help enhance seniors’ safety, mainly those with dementia or cognitive impairment. They have simple-to-use features that senior citizens can quickly learn and adopt.
These technologies offer connections to assistance, ensuring peace of mind for the older adult’s loved ones and caregivers. This article outlines six crucial technologies to help seniors monitor their health.
1. Wearable technology
Wearable technology consists of smart electronic devices worn on the skin’s surface to detect and study information regarding different bodily functions. Wearable devices for the elderly can help monitor your health, letting you remain active while feeling safe. They have small sensors that record even the most minor body changes, including increased heart rates, with new details displaying every few minutes or seconds.
Wearable technologies that track your health enable you to share information with your doctor, including your mobile dentist, loved ones, and home support workers to ensure they’re always aware of your health condition and any unexpected medical emergency. Fitness trackers, GPS technology, smart watches, personal alarms, and heart rate monitors are wearable devices you can invest in to monitor your health.
2. Telemedicine technology
Attending regular doctor appointments can be challenging for the elderly, especially those with restrictions or who are homebound, which makes it hard to leave home. Telemedicine or telehealth leverages telecommunication and electronic technology to offer medical care remotely. It provides seniors with alternatives to manage complex health issues, access care whenever needed, and minimize the burden on their caregivers.
Telehealth technology promotes convenient access to clinical care. It also supports remote symptom monitoring where health data, including cardiac stats, blood pressure, respiratory rates, and oxygen levels, is reported, gathered, and assessed. Telemedicine technology features allow the storage and sharing of medical data, such as X-rays, MRIs, CAT scans, and texts, videos, and photo-based patient data.
By Andrew A. Brooks, M.D., chief medical officer, TigerConnect.
Information is the healthcare industry’s core, from paper to digital record keeping. Healthcare organizations and physicians have relied on charts, treatment plans and other means of records to provide the highest quality of care they can offer. In the 21st century, providers need unrestricted access to holistic data to streamline record-keeping, reduce costs, and better collaborate as treatment teams advance patient care. This access to vital information is becoming more critical as digital healthcare information rises along with the rise in EHR integration.
By current estimates, nearly 30 percent of the world’s data is being generated in healthcare – with no signs of slowing down, this figure is expected to reach 36 percent by 2025. According to a 2019 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) survey, almost 90 percent of office-based physicians responded that they are leveraging EHR systems in their office-based practice. Information availability is only part of the healthcare equation. Data accessibility and interoperability are another.
When roadblocks to information are present, it can create unnecessary challenges for hospitals and treatment teams to do their jobs. These challenges in treatment and care can lead to poor clinical communication and collaboration – reducing the quality of patient care and driving costs upward. In an industry such as healthcare, smooth communications are essential both between providers and patients as they attempt to navigate doctor’s offices, hospitals, and other care facilities. Unfortunately, interoperability and access to information aren’t easy.
Information Blocking and its Impacts on Patient Care
Information blocking often refers to the interference of access, use or exchange of electronic health information. In most cases, information blocking is caused by the use of proprietary technology systems that are unable to interoperate or communicate with one another. When information blocking does occur, patient data necessary for care can be sent or received in an untimely manner or can be transmitted inaccurately. The fact is that most electronic data is still locked in silos across disparate providers. According to a study reported on by the AJMC, nearly 75 percent of physicians feel they lack sufficient information about their patients. The demand for seamless access to healthcare information is one of the driving forces behind the 21st Century Cures Act – which expanded its scope in October.
The 21st Century Cures Act & The Power of Data to Improve Patient Care
When healthcare providers have access to data, they can dramatically improve patient care. This is why many are asking the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for additional clarity on new federal information blocking regulations set in motion in October.
The original 21st Century Cures Act held health IT vendors, providers, and health responsible for information exchanges to better provide patient access to health records with 3rd party applications – banning the blocking of health information sharing. But this applied only to a limited set of data. Under the expanded regulations, patients will get electronic access to their records without limitations. So, what do providers and patients need to know, and how can they better align with these new regulations?
Employers who shift more healthcare insurance payments to employees to keep costs down risk increasingly discontented employees who struggle with growing out-of-pocket (OOP) costs compounded by a flood of overly complicated bills.
The widespread shift of workers into high-deductible health plans (HDHP), in particular, have hit employees hard financially, as nearly one-third of American workers were enrolled in such plans in 2021. It is a trend that is expected to grow.
This shift has also exposed employees to more complex medical bills and statements that rarely add up. What is and is not covered by their plan isn’t clear, nor how much they owe and to whom. In fact, recent studies show that 58% of healthcare consumers were surprised about a bill they received due to confusion about what they owed, and 48% of consumers said they were late on payment for the same reason.
Worse yet, higher OOP costs combined with this billing confusion is causing many employees to postpone or forgo the care they need. A recent survey from Gallup found that 38% of Americans reported that they or a family member had delayed medical care in the prior 12 months because of cost. Additionally, 27% of those surveyed said that they or a family member had put off treatment for a very or somewhat serious condition.
A New Consumer-Focused Payment Approach
But there is reason for hope. New kinds of healthcare payment platforms are entering the market specifically designed to address employee healthcare payment challenges. Many are point solutions, addressing a specific financial issue such as self-pay patient management, easier electronic statements, or access to healthcare payment cards.
Some platforms also apply game theory to create optimal dual-party agreements with multiple providers in the complex billing ecosystem to determine how they all can be compensated by the patient.
At the high end are platforms that provide a more holistic approach in addressing both the financing needs of consumers and the revenue needs of healthcare providers. The most advanced platforms combine advanced technologies with a payment model to create a simpler approach to healthcare billing based on proven analysis of consumer behavior. For example, they utilize AI and statistical modeling to analyze billions of dollars of existing medical payment data and other data to create a payment capacity model that’s balanced and affordable for the employees.
For many people, looking after a loved one with a serious health condition is a choice they gladly make. But that doesn’t make it an easy decision to live with every day. Taking care of someone places an enormous responsibility on your shoulders, as you invest all your time and energy into their wellbeing..png){kind=logo}
