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Enhancing Home Care with Technology and AI · Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT

• 0:00
  Hello, everyone, and thank you for tuning in
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  to the Becker's Health Care podcast. We are
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  thrilled to be joined today on-site at Becker's
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  Health IT Digital Health RCM Conference by Todd
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  Houghton, president, HomeWatch Caregivers. Todd, thank you so
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  much for joining us today.
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  Thanks, Brian, for having me today. I'm looking
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  forward to it. Excellent. So so let's let's
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  dig in here. Could you introduce yourself and
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  and and just give us a brief overview
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  of the work you're doing? Absolutely. Yeah. So,
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  as you mentioned, Todd Oton. I am the
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  president and CEO of HomeWatch Caregivers,
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  home care based, franchise organization
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  with over 250 locations across the US and
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  throughout South America.
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  I took over the company about 2 years
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  ago as, the CEO of that. Been in
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  the home care space for about 14 years
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  and really,
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  mission driven on getting better access of care
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  to those that want to age at home.
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  77% of the population wanna do that over
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  the age of 50. So we're focused on
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  how we provide that better access in a
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  more affordable fashion,
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  bringing technology into the fold.
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  So I appreciate that introduction, that overview of
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  what you're doing. I you know, numbers from
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  the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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  show social isolation has increased the risk of
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  premature death from all causes and even a
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  50% increase in the risk of developing dementia
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  among older adults.
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  How can technology be leveraged to really enhance
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  social engagement among home health and home care
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  patients,
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  especially just that we hear more and more
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  today about the isolation some of these folks
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  face? It's one of my big focuses. Right?
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  In my role, I call it the loneliness
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  epidemic. And so people living alone, do face
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  a higher risk of
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  cognitive and psychological,
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  diseases such as dementia. Also, it's the leading
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  cause of suicide amongst men over the age
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  of 65. So bringing technology into the fold
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  provides better connection, better engagement
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  for that aging population
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  who want to fulfill their dreams of of
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  living at home. Right? So in the home
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  care space, it's typically private pay. So people
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  having that affordability,
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  is critical. They may have direct care visits
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  3 or 4 times a week, but with
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  technology, they can be connected in 247
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  fashion,
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  focused on that loneliness and that isolation aspect
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  of things, allowing them to be not only
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  connected with their caregiver, but with their family,
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  their friends, other loved ones, that really make
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  them feel more part of the world. Yeah.
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  And there
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  ask a follow-up here for you. There's sort
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  of a the stigma among older patients that
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  maybe they're less likely to engage with technology.
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  Do you think that's changing especially in light
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  of after the pandemic? I think,
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  I mean, anecdotally,
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  like, my mom is much better at FaceTiming
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  now than she was before the pandemic. Like,
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  I can see her whole face now when
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  we get on. Yeah.
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  So I'm just curious to if that's something
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  you think is changing too. Older adults are
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  getting more comfortable, more tech savvy. It it
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  absolutely is changing. I recently saw a number,
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  it is, based on, Canada, but 92% of
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  Canadians over the age of 65 have a
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  smart device. Couldn't find the US statistic, but
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  I imagine it has to be similar, which
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  means that those numbers are absolutely going up,
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  which is great to see. Our technology that
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  we bring into the fold is really driven
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  through the TV. And we're in an era
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  of aging population that have all had TVs,
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  and they've all had remote controls at this
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  point in their life. So they're getting much
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  more used to to using that type of
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  technology.
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  Yep. And healthier patients, obviously, like, you you
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  spin this out that that yields benefits for
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  payers and hospitals. Can you discuss the benefits
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  of virtual visits in complementing sort of in
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  person care and how they contribute to more
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  consistent support,
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  reduced admit readmission rates seem to be a
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  a a good target goal for folks here.
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  Can you just talk a little bit about
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  the benefits that these can yield?
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  So through all of our research and through
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  our our testing before we actually fully launch
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  the technology aspect, we found the top three
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  reasons that somebody was going to the hospital
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  was being lonely,
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  dehydrated, or UTI. So technology actually keeps them
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  connected
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  in a better way so that they can
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  be reminded to be hydrating, drinking their water,
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  they can be, you know, engaged so they're
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  not lonely.
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  And it just really helps reduce that that
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  readmission rate. So our our our drive is
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  to really get payer sources to understand
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  the value of having that capability to live
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  at home, right, and be connected so they
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  don't go to the hospital. We all know
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  that the costs that are associated with somebody
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  walking in that ER door. And if we
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  can keep it at a much lower cost,
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  keep them at home much longer, much safer,
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  that's what we wanna do. Yep. And, of
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  course, we're we're sitting here in a health
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  IT conference. So the question I'm about to
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  ask you next is probably the kind of
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  question that's gonna show up in conversations across
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  this conference,
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  which is how AI sort of fits in
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  here. Yeah. Can you talk a little bit
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  more about how the the rise of AI,
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  more sophisticated virtual tools is really gonna
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  impact the future of care in the home
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  settings. It it seems particularly, like, exciting for
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  this space. Right? It's very exciting. We're just
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  in pilot phase on some some AI,
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  capabilities that really focus on,
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  hyper personalized care plans that will help that
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  person age much more gracefully at home with
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  reducing the hospital admissions and things like that.
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  But AI is going to continue to provide
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  a critical part in the care space, And
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  we're excited to see where it goes. I'm
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  excited to be here at this conference to
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  talk with other people about how they're looking
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  at bringing AI in. It's gonna change the
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  world in the next 18 to 36 months.
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  Yeah. Exciting stuff and excited to dive into
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  some of those conversations too as the conference
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  rolls on.
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  Is there anything we didn't touch on in
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  our time together today that you wanna be
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  sure to leave listeners with time? I think,
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  you know, we've we've touched on everything. It's
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  just that that that critical component of technology
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  and everybody embracing the fact that technology in
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  the home is the direction that we absolutely
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  have to go to provide better care. We're
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  starting to see it in the hospital in
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  the acute settings. Let's get it into the
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  home as well. It's a great place to
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  end on. So, Todd, thank you so much
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  for taking the time stopping by and talking
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  with me. Thanks for having me, Brian. Appreciate
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  it. Of course. And, of course, wanna thank
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  HomeWatch Caregivers for sponsoring this conversation.
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  Listeners, thank you for joining us, and please
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  be sure to check out the other podcasts
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  on Becker's websites. Thank you so much. Have
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  a wonderful rest of your day.