Getting Care Instructions Like This Is Unacceptable

Hospitals MUST get better. Paper? A cross-out? Really?? #sendanaction #mhealth #TheCare3Way

Care3 and Congressional Repeal of FCC Internet Privacy Rules

Dear Care3 Family, As you may have heard, Congress rolled back the FCC’s internet privacy rules this past week. If the President signs this bill into law as expected, it would allow internet service providers (ISPs) like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Cox and others to sell your personal online and mobile web browsing data and information on your mobile app usage.

At Care3, we want you to understand that we take privacy very seriously.

1. No third party can view your activity on Care3. Neither the government nor any ISP has access to your personal health information and that of your loved ones on Care3. When you use the Care3 app to send text and media messages back and forth with family and friends, each text is encrypted so no one can intercept the messages, pictures, or audio files as they pass from your phone to our servers. This extra layer of security causes our app to be a bit slower than what you might experience with iMessage or SMS texting (as they are not encrypted). But we think the added security is worth an extra second or two.
2. Care3 meets all government privacy and security standards for PHI storage. All data and media files are encrypted in our dedicated cloud storage facilities. Cloud storage services like iCloud, Dropbox, and others do not meet government privacy standards for storage of personal health information. Most people don’t know that. We want you to be confident that all of your health communications are safe and secure with Care3.

Note: Many popular messaging apps are NOT safe for healthcare conversations. The  apps above do not encrypt text messages traveling between your phone and their servers to the government's standard for health information, the highest level. They also neither encrypt nor retain your data as required by law for health information storage. With this lighter security, hackers have an easier time if they want to intercept your information.

Many of you have indicated that you will increase your usage of Care3 even for non-health related conversations because of the high level of security that Care3 offers. We encourage this as our executive team has also increased our usage of Care3 for non-health related conversations as of late.

We appreciate your continued use of Care3. We have just passed 2,000 families using Care3! Have confidence that your information and activity are safe and secure regardless of what privacy access Congress gives to ISPs.

If you have any questions about the privacy and security of your texts or other information shared on Care3, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Like we always say, we’re there for you because you’re there for others.

Take care, David S. Williams Co-Founder & CEO Care3, Inc.

5 Reasons You MUST Use Messaging Apps Secure for Healthcare Conversations

By David Williams, Co-Founder & CEO, Care3.

I admit it. As a caregiver for my mother for ten years, I didn’t worry about the security and privacy of her health information. In fact, I’ve spoken to hundreds of families caring for aging parents or special needs children. Never has ANYONE expressed the urgency to protect their loved ones’ health information.

And why should they? The focus has to be on the care delivered. We as caregivers have to keep our loved ones well, nurse them back to health, get them better, right? We don’t have time to think about every piece of information that we share with family members and how we share it. We can barely get through our own lives, with jobs, family, and other responsibilities. Thinking about information management is yet another thing—and sounds exhausting!

Unintended Consequences

But here’s the thing: disregarding the privacy and security of health information may actually have negative, unintended consequences. That is why it is so important to be careful how you share health information using mobile devices and apps.

Messaging is the #1 function used on mobile devices. We all know how to send texts, pictures, and other media using the popular messaging apps like iMessage, SMS, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp just to name a few. But all of these apps have one MAJOR flaw:

NONE of them are safe or secure for healthcare conversations.

Wait, what? What does “secure for healthcare conversations” mean? How can these apps not be safe? The biggest names in technology are behind these apps: Apple, Google, Facebook. Don’t they know this?

Yes, in fact they do. It’s a conscious choice for them NOT to be secure for healthcare conversations.

What it means to be secure for healthcare conversations.

The US government has privacy standards for healthcare information transmission, transfer, and storage to protect patients’ personal health information (PHI). You may have heard of “HIPAA”, also known as “The Privacy Rule.”

The Health Information Portability and Accessibility Act regulates how healthcare providers are supposed to handle the PHI of patients. The Privacy Rule extends to providers and how they communicate with patients and families as well. And to repeat: NONE of the popular messaging apps meet this standard of security and privacy.

What qualifies as personal health information?

• Diagnosis

• Condition/Disease Name

• Medications (brands, generics, OTC, dosage, frequency, etc.)

• Doctors (by name or type of doctor)

• Care Instructions

• Medical Equipment

• Treatments (medications, supplements, rehab exercises, activities of daily living)

So whenever you’re talking to family, friends, or your healthcare provider about your loved one, you’re likely sharing information that includes PHI. That sharing can have consequences if not done with an eye on security.

What Are The Risks?

We have now entered the age of hacking and information security is at the forefront of the national discussion in areas including national security, elections, cloud storage, and yes, healthcare.

In the past two years, Apple, Facebook, Yahoo, and other tech heavyweights have revealed that their systems have been hacked with millions of records being stolen. In healthcare, however, the privacy breaches tend to be personal in nature—like healthcare providers revealing the private health information of celebrities. Why? Because healthcare technology is held to a much higher standard of security.

Five Negative Consequences of using Apps Unsecured for Healthcare

1. Discrimination. The main area people worry about is discrimination by employers or insurance companies. Employers could use PHI to find ways to terminate employment for your loved one under legal means, even if the health condition is the main reason. Losing one’s job can have devastating consequences for healthcare access and quality. Because health premiums are calculated by risk pools, people with diagnosed health conditions tend to pay higher monthly premiums for insurance coverage. It’s amazing that a small thing like sending a text message over unsecured apps could lead to such NEGATIVE outcomes. Don’t let it happen.

2. Outing your Loved One’s Condition. In sharing PHI with a trusted family member, you may inadvertently “out” your loved one’s information. How, you ask? Because the popular messaging apps do not have privacy protections that automatically log out users if they haven’t logged in for a period of time. That means if your family member loses their phone, anyone who recovers it can access your loved one’s PHI. Even if the person leaves the phone out and it is picked up by a friend of theirs and accessed, your loved one’s information could be accessed. This type of thing happens all the time and you should keep that in mind when having healthcare conversations on unprotected, unsecure apps.

3. Taking Away Your Loved One’s Right to Privacy. Privacy is a right that we are all guaranteed by the US Constitution. But if you’re sharing the PHI of a loved one over an unsecured app, you have in effect taken away their right to privacy. There are channels that you can use to transmit PHI securely. If you choose NOT to use these channels, you are taking away a fundamental right out of your personal convenience. That isn’t fair to your loved one. They trust you to care for them, so they trust you with their health information. Do not betray that trust.

4. Giving Away Your Right to Health Record Storage. The Privacy Rule not only ensures the security of your health information across electronic pathways, it also mandates that records be kept for six years. This means that your loved one has the right to storage of health information that can be used to help them in the future. If you’re not using a messaging app secure for healthcare, then you’re giving away your loved one’s right to health data storage. The popular messaging apps don’t retain your messages for more than a few months to a year. Don’t give away the right to data retention. It can save your loved one’s life—and potentially others.

5. Losing Valuable Data. If you’re having conversations about the health of loved ones on unsecured apps, the information your sharing isn’t transferrable to a health record. This means that healthcare professionals can’t use that information to design better treatment plans and protocols because they don’t know what is going on outside of their offices and facilities. With a HIPAA secure messaging app, many of the data are shareable to your loved one’s electronic health record (EHR). That is a major benefit of using apps secure for healthcare and a major lost opportunity when not using one.

Make sure you respect your loved one’s right to privacy and security. Respect YOUR OWN right to privacy as well. All of these issues apply to you and your healthcare as well. You wouldn’t want anyone in your family outing your personal business to others whether or not it was intended.

What You Should Do

Download a messaging app like Care3 (download Care3 in the App Store or Google Play) that is secure for healthcare (HIPAA-compliant) to protect your loved one’s health information while texting with family, friends, and healthcare providers.

To Care Is Human.

Caring is the highest form of human interaction. Let others help you care for your loved ones. #caresharing

Five Ways to Stay in Your Caregiving Flow When Family Comes to Town

The holiday season is filled with happiness, cheer, and family visits. As a caregiver, those family visits can be wonderful, but also introduce interruptions to your routine, especially if your visitors are staying with you in the house.

Here are five ways to stay in your caregiving flow when family comes to town.

#1. Warn them about priorities.

People like to be treated like guests and get waited on hand and foot when they’re visiting. Even family. Maybe ESPECIALLY family. Be sure to warn them up front that your caregiving responsibilities come before their needs and that they are able-bodied and can do things for themselves. You can be blunt since, well, they’re family. They’ll understand.

#2. Show them what you do each day.

Many family members don’t have a good idea of what gets done each day to take care of your loved one. They’re in the privileged position of not having to do much, if anything, to help out. A clever way to expose them to the routine is to walk them through it all one day as they’re there. At that point, they’ll get the picture. You can also send them the list of daily activities that you’re doing while they’re in town so they get the visual picture ahead of time. Either way, showing them what’s required will result in your gaining newfound respect among family members.

#3. Recruit help.

If you do #2, then this one becomes second nature. Your family can see how to help immediately and see how to help out while they’re in town or in the house. That can get you a few minutes of solitude, respite, or free time to do other things, like holiday shopping for gifts for THEM. Funny how family become very helpful when they know you’re out buying them presents.

#4. Start a group messaging conversation.*

As it becomes clear what is required to care for your loved one, family will want to be kept updated periodically on status. A group messaging conversation can keep everyone in the loop, and also increases overall communication between remote family members, which is actually nice. Using your caregiving role to bring family closer together this holiday season can be a very positive side effect of their visits.

#5. Ask for ongoing help.

Having earned the respect of family members for your caregiving role, the other benefit is feeling more comfortable asking for help. In the group conversation you can ask if anyone can do a particular task. No matter how small, people will feel more connected to you and want to help. This is an easy way to get them to contribute.

*NOTE: Make sure you’re using a HIPAA-compliant messaging app, like Care3, for this group conversation. When sharing personal health information of a patient, the data must be confidential and protected. The popular messaging apps like FB Messenger, iMessage, and SMS are NOT secure for healthcare conversations.

So take advantage of the family time this holiday season while staying in your caregiving flow. Use this time to share what you’re doing in your caregiving role and recruit others to help, not only while they’re visiting, but beyond as well.

Happy Holidays!

Care3 for Care Managers

Calling All Care Managers!

Did you know there are 65 million family caregivers in the US? These people lovingly support your clients in their quest to remain healthy. In fact, 69% of family caregivers are open to using mobile applications to help them take care of loved ones.

What if a technology platform could improve communication with your clients and their families, keep everyone informed about your work, and teach family caregivers how they can help your clients get and stay healthy?

Welcome to Care3.

Care3 is the care planning and mobile messaging platform for people who care for and about others. You care for your clients by ensuring they receive the best care possible. Your clients’ families care about their loved ones, but often don’t know how to help. Care3 brings it all together.

Care3 = Care Plan + Messaging + Calendar

If you need a system that coordinates care, makes communications with all parties efficient and compliant, and drives positive outcomes, then you need Care3. Care3 combines a simple, 8-step care planning tool with our mobile messaging and calendar app to make sure all care steps are organized and those completing the steps can care anywhere.

You create the care plan, including medications, ADLs, rehab/exercises, home medical needs and more. All individual care steps are sent to the Care3 mobile app as Actions to be completed by members of the care team--professionals and family. Everyone operates from the same central care plan that you design. It's that easy.

• Build a Care Team of interdisciplinary care providers and family members around each of your clients to keep everyone in the loop and engaged.
• Create Care Plans that family and professionals can complete so they know how to help to keep loved ones out of the hospital.
• HIPAA-compliant Text Messaging allows you to securely communicate with your clients and families and track when care steps are complete.
• Calendar and To-Do List keep everyone organized so they know what care has to be delivered when.

Care3 makes you more effective managing care which leads to higher client satisfaction and more referrals.

Dozens of Care Management Companies Use Care3

Care3 enables community-based care managers (geriatric and others) to coordinate care for clients and families. While navigating the health system, you can also ensure that the critical care that's needed to keep your clients healthy and out of the hospital is being delivered by the professional care team and family.

Here are what a few of our users are saying about Care3 for care management:

"Care3 is great for coordinating care!"

"...very intuitive out-of-the-box."

"If you are trying to keep track of service providers for a client, Care3 is your system!"

Try FREE for 60 Days

Sign up for Care3 Care Planner FREE for 60 days. Create as many care plans as you need for all of your clients. Get their families involved with care. Keep your clients out of the hospital.

Care3™ launches Starter Care Plan feature to help caregivers get into their groove

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(Los Angeles, CA) - July 6, 2016 - Care3™, a leading  developer of mobile health technology, has launched a new feature called Starter Care Plan for all iPhone and iPad app users.  Successful caregiving depends on having the goals set and the tasks laid in a routine that families can follow every single day. Starter Care Plan offers a set of the most common care tasks that family caregivers face when caring for a loved one, thus helping to integrate the tasks into a new caregiving routine. “At Care3, we call this routine your ‘groove.’ Getting into your caregiving groove means you’ve integrated caregiving into your personal and professional life. When you’re in the groove, you’re efficient, effective, and your stress level is manageable.” explains David Williams, Care3 Co-Founder and CEO.

Starter Care Plan is designed to get family caregivers  into their caregiving groove as quickly as possible. Users first create their Care Team and then are prompted to create the Starter Care Plan. This creates daily and weekly Actions that families share so that no one has to complete all of the care tasks alone, avoiding high stress, missed days of work, and burnout.

Family caregivers can also send Care3 discharge instructions to make them mobile for a nominal fee. Caregivers simply email their paper discharge plans after downloading the FREE mobile app and signing up.

About Care3™

Founded by three former Aetna executives with successful entrepreneurial backgrounds in consumer and enterprise health technology, Care3 elegantly combines patient and family engagement with post-acute care coordination on the same platform to improve outcomes and reduce costly hospital readmissions for underserved populations including seniors, people of color, and the disabled. Download the FREE Care3 mobile app on the App Store now. Learn more at www.care3.co/blog.

Social Work and Technology. Time to Unite for Social Change

Social work and technology. Those two words don't typically flow together like peanut butter & jelly. Perhaps they should. Social workers perform the outreach to people in need and help them manage the complexities of life from healthcare, economics, job searches, financial management, and other areas that can cause people to have difficulty and friction in their lives, especially in underserved areas.

Care3 Co-Founder & CEO David Williams recently had the opportunity to present at the Network for Social Work Management (NSWM) annual management conference in Los Angeles. The session, entitled "Technology Innovation for Social Impact", was headlined by City Light Capital Founder and Managing Partner, Josh Cohen. Josh eloquently shared his framework for social impact investing across multiple sectors and featured Care3 among companies that are creating innovative technology for healthcare-based social impact. Josh serves on the Board of Directors for NSWM and sees the potential that adding technology for social workers can do to enhance theirs and their clients' lives.

"Care3 is a great example of a technology platform that helps social workers do what they do best. Take care of people who need a little help to manage the complexities of living." says Josh Cohen.

Technology can help community-based care managers in multiple ways as tech typically does. Organization, communication, data, and storage of information. Care3 delivers on those factors and more when it comes to care management firms and how they interact with colleagues and clients.

"We very much appreciate David's presenting the Care3 platform because we don't often get to see technology solutions designed specifically for us." adds Lakeya Cherry, Executive Director of NSWM.

Care3 elegantly combines patient and family engagement with post-acute care coordination on the same platform to improve outcomes and reduce costly hospital readmissions for underserved populations including seniors, people of color, and the disabled. Social workers are the engine of this practice so we were honored to share Care3 at the NSWM conference.

Care3 is introducing its Beta Partner Program which offers the Care3 platform to independent care management firms for free for 60 days. The goal is to assess the value of Care3 for their work and measure impacts. Eighteen companies have signed up for the Beta Partner Program already. To learn how you and your firm can participate, email us at beta@care3.co/blog.

#Care3How2 - Call Everyone in to Action

Welcome back to our series #Care3How2! We’re examining how you can use Action Messages in seven different real-world situations to ask for help, get support or share information. Today we’re delving into the the situation when you need someone to do an odd task. Just log in to Care3, and create your Action Message. Fill in all the important details and select who you want to receive the message (everyone or just certain individuals).

Recommended Actions • Give a Ride • Visit Your Loved One • Add Appointment • Pick Up Medicine • Get Answers • Buy Something • Do Something

Here are more examples of tasks and projects you could use Action Messages for:

• Help me clean and organize Pops’ garage • Need research on wills and estate planning • Granny’s yard needs to be mowed • Plan this year’s family reunion • Bingo with Aunt Shirley on Monday • Set Robbie’s audiologist appointment • Install safety bars in my bathrooms

There are many other unique forms of assistance needed in every different family, though. The important thing is to make sure you ask for help, whatever it is. As a primary caregiver, you can't hesitate or feel like you are putting people out. They want to help! They’ve said so many times. Allow them to pitch in and share the effort by simply telling them what’s needed in clear, specific terms. That way, these actions are easily completed, and everyone feels a sense of accomplishment in working together to support and care for your loved one.

Eliminate the stress, isolation and guilt of caregiving by communicating with everyone in your loved one’s life with Care3.

The New Normal: Caregivers as Leaders

When a loved one is suddenly struck ill or has a catastrophic event, it changes the world--and without our permission. We are stunned into paralysis—shocked into disbelief—and even shamed into silence. Becoming a caregiver thrusts you into a leadership position. People look to you for guidance, updates, and strength even though you feel the same feelings they do. Leaders are supposed to project an air of invincibility, right? Consider this excerpt from Nelson Mandela’s Leadership Lessons:

Show courage: Mandela was often afraid for his own safety and even his life. Yet, he never showed fear to either his compatriots or his adversaries, saying that a leader “must put up a bold front.”

One of the greatest leaders in world history recommends that we show no fear. A chink in the “bold front” armor may signal weakness, or worse yet, fear and doubt in whether the mission can succeed. So we keep quiet. Play it close to the vest. We never let our family or friends see us sweat.

The problem with that approach is that inevitably when others see that we are, in fact, human, it is such an anomaly that our family and friends think that the sky is falling. Showing vulnerability from time to time, sharing the experience with close family and friends, and rising above it can add to a perception of strength rather than take from it--and result in better health for your loved one.

When our loved ones get sick and need our help to recover or even live comfortably day-to-day, it’s important to talk about the challenges with people you trust—while also letting those around you know that everything isn’t perfect. This includes family members. You will need their help if you want to balance the responsibilities of caring for a loved one and maintaining the life you had already created for yourself.

Do what you do at work. Get your team (a care team) together, set a goal, make a plan, and lead. But talk openly about the challenges with trusted friends and family. Success in this mission means a healthy loved one and a strong, supportive family.

Don’t you want that anyway?

The New Normal - Beginning Life as a Family Caregiver

As a family caregiver, you take on responsibility for your loved one's health when not in the care of a professional. What you do is the work of angels. When you're thrust into this situation unexpectedly, it can be difficult do know what to do. What does it mean to care? What am I supposed to do each day? What results should I strive to achieve?

At Care3, we have been through this situation and want to help you. People don't give you tactical advice on what to do in the beginning because they either don't know or don't want to overwhelm you with details when you're still adjusting to this new normal. While everyone is certainly being considerate, you do need a path to being successful and helping your loved one to heal. In typical Care3 fashion, here are three steps that can keep you less stressed, more organized, and help your loved one heal, recover, and/or be comfortable.

1. Talk openly to others. This seems counterintuitive, right? When discussing health, privacy is the norm. Not in caregiving. One thing is true in caregiving and that is you can't do it all alone. Yes, you're an angel, but remember, you need sleep! You also have other life responsibilities. You want other people around you, trusted family and friends, to talk to about what's happening. You may also find those people willing to fill in for you if there are some care tasks that you can't complete for some reason. Those people are YOUR angels.
2. Make a plan. You've heard this before: Failure to plan is planning to fail. Caring for a loved one is no different. When you left the hospital or other health facility, someone gave you instructions on how to care for your loved one. Yes, it was probably on a piece of paper and had some 'medical-speak' but it was at least a start in knowing what to do. Take that plan an break it down into simple steps. Mark each step by how often it has to be completed, multiple times per day, once daily, weekly, etc. and mark what happens when the plan is complete. When you've completed this plan, you'll know what you have to do each day, what the goal of the plan is, and can integrate all of that into the rest of your life routine. Care3 can help with this.
3. Don't forget the simple stuff. One of the things that we often forget when we're caring for others is their routine. We get wrapped up in our own and forget that our loved ones had a routine, too. One of the most important things you can do is to give your loved one a new routine of basic daily life activities. Bathing, grooming, meal-times, etc. are how we organize our lives. Set up a routine for your loved one so everyone knows what to expect each day. You'll find that certainty reduces your loved one's anxiety as well, which really helps in recovery and healing.

Follow these three steps and you'll find caregiving to be a challenging, yet do-able action. You can do this.

Break the Cycle of ER Visits and Hospitalizations for Your Loved One

In one year my mother was in the hospital 12 times.

One time a month.

And that wasn’t the biggest year. She had COPD, CHF (chronic heart failure) and was a cancer survivor.

My wife and I tried everything to keep her out of the hospital. And each time it was the same.

Within a few weeks, she’d end up back in the hospital.

While there she’d get her vitals under control because of the round-the-clock attention. Everything would be ok—and she’d be discharged.

And within two weeks, no matter what we did, we just couldn’t keep her right and she’d end up in the hospital again.

That cycle went on for a year, year and a half. Sometimes twice a month in the hospital over the course of 2.5 years she’d be admitted or at least end up in the Emergency Room.

And finally, we realized something...

Finally—after that year when she was in the hospital 12 times—we realized we were doing things wrong.

We recognized what we needed as a family. Too much was falling on one person’s shoulders at a time. Care would fall on me for a time. When I wasn’t available, it was all on my wife.

Then we tried something new...

All that care that had to be delivered, all of those tasks, needed to be shared among more than one person at a time. We needed a group of people in the family working all at the same time.

One person didn’t have to take it all on.

Then we had to organize those tasks so that we made sure they got delivered at the right time. That was no small feat in itself. What we were able to do is get all those tasks organized into a list, know when each had to happen and then share those tasks with family and friends so others could take those on.

That’s how we broke the cycle.

That’s how we got more care and better care for mom so that she could feel better, longer.

What happened? We nursed her back to health.

Remember, she was living with us for 2.5 years. And after 6 months of not being in the hospital she was able to go home and live by herself independently.

Sure, we had people looking in on her. But living at home restored everything. Her health. Her independence. Her dignity.

That’s what we built Care3 to do.

It helps you do the 3 things that together we call “care-sharing” to keep your loved one out of the hospital.

1. Care3 helps you create a care team of supportive family and friends
2. Care3 creates a group care conversation automatically when you create your care team so communication is easy and efficient for everyone
3. Care3 helps you enter and share all care tasks in a sequenced list so everyone on the care team can contribute by accepting a task 

 

That’s the way to break the cycle. That’s the way to keep our loved ones out of the hospital. That’s the way to get them to live at home by themselves independently.

Care3 can help.

Download the Care3 iPhone app in the App Store. It’s FREE and will help you use care-sharing to care for your loved ones as a team to help them feel better, longer.

Take care,

David S. Williams

CEO, Care3