SAN FRANCISCO – March 19, 2020 – Outpatient announced today a Virus Tracker feature of its caregiving collaboration app and platform specifically designed for the senior housing industry. The Virus Tracker efficiently coordinates the monitoring of coronavirus symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath for rapid response and communication between health care professionals and families. As part of its announcement, Outpatient is making the app available cost-free to all 140 senior living and nonprofit providers in the U.S. who operate more than 624,000 units and oversee the lives of approximately 2.5 million at-risk older adults.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has led all industries to evolve their practices just as teleconference tools like Zoom and Dialpad have replaced in-person business meetings,” said Peter Yewell, chief operating officer and co-founder of Outpatient. “The coronavirus is a serious threat to residents in long-term care and can have significant impact to a community’s prosperity. At Outpatient we moved fast, calling the audible less than a week ago to offer senior housing providers the opportunity to get ahead of this growing crisis. Our app is the provider solution to increase efficiency, safety and family communication in their communities.”
The Outpatient Virus Tracker now affords senior housing communities a simple tool to implement basic healthcare delivery precautions to stem the coronavirus spread. COVID-19 was introduced into a long-term residential care facility in Washington state earlier this year. The virus impacted 81 residents, 46 staff members and 14 visitors who all tested positive resulting in 29 deaths to date. Limitations in effective infection control and prevention and staff members working in multiple facilities contributed to intra- and interfacility spread.
The Outpatient app offers a HIPAA-compliant, private and secure environment specifically designed for health care communication and tracking. Access is limited to only authorized people in each resident’s “tribe,” and is centrally controlled by system administrators. Providers can streamline the time-consuming communication tasks administrators and staff perform to manage individual family and community updates. This is especially critical during a pandemic when time is a precious commodity and all attention is on resident care and safety. With families being asked to embrace social distancing and refrain from visiting loved ones in senior living communities, the panic, apprehension and unease creates a vital client service need for real-time information and updates on loved ones.
Statistics show that more than 65 million Americans across three generations – millennials, Gen X and baby boomers – are serving as family caregivers. Providing constant communication is part of the reassurance families need and being able to deliver those updates quickly and efficiently is a value-add for long-term care providers in these client relationships.
“As a veteran of more than 30 years in aging and the longevity economy, this is the most agile team I’ve seen delivering a mobile technology solution to address this growing senior care crisis and provide peace of mind for families,” said Mary Furlong, a successful internet entrepreneur, author and advisor to Outpatient. “Bridging the family caregivers and their loved ones in communities is key during this time when social distancing creates more anxiety and Outpatient has solved that dilemma.”
As of March 18, the Centers for Disease Control reports more than 7,000 cases in the U.S. with 97 deaths. Older adults and those with immunocompromised systems are most at risk. The Outpatient app is available now cost-free to all senior living providers through July 1, 2020. To learn more: Get Outpatient for Senior Living
About Outpatient
Outpatient is an all-in-one digital health mobile application for patient care and health management. The app features group collaboration and communication as a tool for monitoring patient progress and automatic updates. Currently, the application is used by health systems, senior living communities, military medical centers and families with ongoing caregiving needs. There are more than 20,000 health professionals and families across the U.S. using the Outpatient app today. https://getoutpatient.com/ |
