Mobile health delivery In 1999, April Anthony, then CEO of one of the largest home health agencies in Texas, began looking for a software solution to help simplify the arduous process of collecting patient data and exchanging that information among field workers, home health agencies, and physicians.
Anthony knew exactly what she wanted: a handheld tool that was unobtrusive, easy to use, and able to transmit patient information in real time. She was unable to find a product that met those requirements, so she decided to develop the software in-house.
After implementing the application within her own firm, Anthony realized that it could make life significantly easier for home health agencies across the country. She launched Homecare Homebase in 2001, building on Windows Mobile to create a solution that allows field workers to do most of their documentation during patient visits rather than in the evenings or on weekends.
More than 14,000 field workers currently use the Homecare Homebase solution on Windows Mobile devices, including nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, home health aides, medical social workers, Reiki (healing energy) therapists, and massage therapists. In 2006, nurses, therapists, and home health aides made more than 429 million visits to patients' homes.
Because clinicians can use the device to synchronize data from the field in real time, an agency office can process claims significantly faster than with a paper-based system. "After a nurse completes a patient visit and synchronizes that data back to the office, an automated process kicks in that allows agencies to submit the RAP [Request for Anticipated Payment] for Medicare reimbursement within 24 hours of the patient visit," says Tricia Collom, vice president of marketing for Homecare Homebase.
Deanna Learman, director of clinical systems at Residential Home Health in Michigan, can attest to the time savings generated by using the Homecare Homebase solution. "Originally, all of our processes were done on paper," Learman explains. "It used to take one employee 40 hours per week to check for completeness and file the visit notes for 350 caregivers, but with Homecare Homebase it takes only four hours per week."
For more information on Homecare Homebase's experiences with Windows Mobile, please follow this
link.
