Care3 News & Events
Interview with Joe Betancourt, MD - MGH Office of Disparities Solutions - Part 1
joebetancourt
In Part 1 of this two part powerful interview, Dr. Betancourt shares his thoughts on health disparities among racial and ethnic groups and what hospitals and health systems can do to promote equality of care and outcomes.
Learn more about MGH Office of Disparities Solutions.
dsc_onegoal_log-2010_medium
Five Must-Have Features for Family Caregivers Using Mobile Apps
Using mobile apps for caregiving hasn't caught on as much as it could. According to a caring.com survey, only 7% of family caregivers have tried using a mobile app to help with family caregiving. That has to change. In order for you to try an app, however, you should know the features that are must-haves. Check out the five that we believe are critical to any mobile technology for caregivers.
For a deeper dive, check out our FREE comprehensive guide, The Beginner's Guide to Using Technology as a Caregiver.
Mobile
Caregiving moves at the speed of life. Anytime, anywhere, something can happen, and something has to be done. So any technology for caregivers must be mobile. You're almost not in the game anymore if you don't have some kind of mobile presence or a mobile app – something that allows things to happen anytime, anywhere.
Secure
HIPAA compliance is no longer an option when it comes to sharing health information between patients and professionals using mobile devices. Therefore all mobile apps for healthcare must be secure, private, and guarantee the confidentiality of patient/family to provider communication.
Simple
The technology cannot be complicated. No one in a care situation can spend a ton of time trying to learn a new app, or some kind of new technology, when caring for a loved one and/or manage care. Finding the time to learn something tricky just isn't going to happen. It has to be simple, and it has to be intuitive, with no new behaviors.
Shareable
People want to be kept up-to-date on how patients are doing. Whether those people are helping to deliver care or not, they want to know at least what's going on, and that's why "shareability" matters. That way, you can alert family and friends of all the things that are happening quickly and effectively. Increased efficiency with updates is what the technology should provide to be ultimately shareable.
Accountable
The last one – and most important – is accountability. Caregiving is about getting it done, getting it done right, and getting it done on time, as prescribed. Not doing it – meaning failing to adhere to the care tasks and care plan – can have serious consequences. Sometimes life and death consequences. The technology must communicate, notify, and record when a task is performed. That way, we and the other people on the care team can know if there are any barriers or challenges to getting things done per the doctor's instructions. We have to follow the plan to the letter, because not doing so can have devastating effects.
Does your healthcare application meet these criteria? If not, then it's time for you to download and install the Care3 mobile app. It's 100% FREE.
TripleTeam Podcast Episode 2: Using Technology for Caregiving Can Make Your Life Much Easier
After reviewing the major caregiving apps for consumers on the market, it became very clear that none meet the criteria needed to manage care outside of the hospital. Below are five necessary features of any good caregiving technology. You can also listen to our podcast (subscribe in iTunes - search for Care3 TripleTeam Podcast) where we detail technology for caregivers and introduce some new ways to get the most out of mobile apps.
TripleTeam Podcast Episode 2: Interview with Donna Benton, PhD - Director of USC Family Caregiving Support Center
We recently announced our joint collaboration with the USC Family Caregiving Support Center to help people in Los Angeles County better care for loved ones as well as for themselves. Donna Benton, PhD, Director of the USC Family Caregiving Support Center joins us on the Care3 TripleTeam Podcast to discuss The Center, the challenges of family caregiving, and how technology can be used to make caregiving easier, more efficient, and produce not only results, but even time for rest.
Care3 Collaboration Announcement
Welcome to the Care3 TripleTeam Podcast!
People have told the team at Care3 time after time that we should share our stories, those of our community, and our interactions with thought leaders more. How can we say no to that? Introducing the Care3 TripleTeam Podcast (#TripleTeam). TripleTeam Episode 0: Welcome to the Care3 TripleTeam Podcast!
Why did we title our podcast "TripleTeam"? Because this is the team that is most optimal to drive the best health outcomes: patients, family, and professionals. With that TripleTeam, we can achieve all of our health outcomes goals for everyone. That's right. Everyone.
Our corporate mission is to help reduce disparities in health outcomes, quality, and access among underserved populations including people of color, the disabled, the poor and rural residents. Technology can help achieve these goals and Care3 is determined to be a massive driver of change in this area.
Thanks for listening to the TripleTeam Podcast. Find us on iTunes and subscribe! And make sure you have your own "triple team" in place to care for yourself and loved ones.
Care3 and USC Family Caregiver Support Center Team Up to Help Families Coordinate Care
C3_logo_word
(Los Angeles, CA) - September 12, 2016 - Care3™, a leading developer of mobile health technology, has announced a partnership with the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and their Family Caregiver Support Center to provide care planning and secure communication resources to all Los Angeles Caregiver Resource Center clients and their families.
"We are honored to be chosen by USC and the Family Caregiver Support Center,” says Care3 Co-Founder and CEO David Williams, “Families receiving services from the LACRC are typically underserved and have low access to healthcare in their communities. Care3 can help bridge that care gap and coordinate care between family and providers."
Care3_bundle_platform
Care3™ plans to work with hospitals, health insurers, and other health entities to digitize and mobilize their care instructions while also making them more consumer friendly. Care3 will deliver each task step-by-step over their HIPAA-compliant care-sharing mobile app.
"We can use Care3 to empower our caregiver clients to not only take care of their loved ones, but take better care of themselves as well," says Donna Benton, PhD, Director of the USC Family Caregiver Support Center (http://fcscgero.org).
Family caregivers often develop illnesses while caring for loved ones. The collaboration will address caregiver stress, burnout, and other health issues.
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 mobile and web-based platform to improve outcomes and reduce costly hospital readmissions for underserved populations including seniors, people of color, and the disabled. Care3 is inspired by the realization that the most vulnerable members of our society do not have equal access to healthcare and receive woefully inadequate quality of care in their homes and communities. Care3 is built to fix these unacceptable and unnecessary inequities. Learn more at http://care3.co/blog.
Care3 CEO David Williams Honored as Entrepreneur of the Week by The Longevity Network
TheLongevityNetwork
C3_logo_word
David Williams
The Longevity Network (www.longevitynetwork.org) has recognized Care3 co-Founder and CEO, David Williams as Entrepreneur of the Week. The Longevity Network was created to give Investors and Entrepreneurs the resources needed to create breakthrough products, experiences, and business models for health technologies benefitting the 50+ audience. The Longevity Network published an interview with David where he shared his thoughts on healthcare, entrepreneurship, digital health, care coordination, and other topics.
Here's an excerpt from the interview:
LN: How has what happened with Care3 differed from what you imagined would happen with Care3?
DW: Caregivers started using our Action Messages (patent-pending) sooner than we thought. An Action Message is a care task delivered as a text message (or media message) that has accountability attached to it. A caregiver can accept the task, which notifies the Care Team that the task will be done. Once completed, the caregiver can tap the “done” button notifying everyone of completion.
We thought it would take longer for caregivers to adopt this hybrid messaging/tasks behavior but we’re happy to say that we’ve seen a steady increase in Action Message utilization. What this means is that caregivers are sharing more and more care tasks with each other. Action Messages are what makes “care-sharing” possible.
Congratulations, David! Check out the full interview on The Longevity Network website.
The Top 5 Non-negotiable Features for Strong Caregiving Apps
After reviewing the major caregiving apps for consumers on the market, it became very clear that none meet the criteria needed to manage care outside of the hospital. Here are the five (5) non-negotiable features needed for caregiving apps (and check out this 100 second video for a clear review of these criteria).
Mobile
Caregiving moves at the speed of life. Anytime, anywhere, something can happen, and something has to be done. So any technology for caregivers must be mobile. You're almost not in the game anymore if you don't have some kind of mobile presence or a mobile app – something that allows things to happen anytime, anywhere.
Secure
HIPAA compliance is no longer an option when it comes to sharing health information between patients and professionals using mobile devices. Therefore all mobile apps for healthcare must be secure, private, and guarantee the confidentiality of patient/family to provider communication.
Simple
The technology cannot be complicated. No one in a care situation can spend a ton of time trying to learn a new app, or some kind of new technology, when caring for a loved one and/or manage care. Finding the time to learn something tricky just isn't going to happen. It has to be simple, and it has to be intuitive, with no new behaviors.
Shareable
People want to be kept up-to-date on how patients are doing. Whether those people are helping to deliver care or not, they want to know at least what's going on, and that's why "shareability" matters. That way, you can alert family and friends of all the things that are happening quickly and effectively. Increased efficiency with updates is what the technology should provide to be ultimately shareable.
Accountable
The last one – and most important – is accountability. Caregiving is about getting it done, getting it done right, and getting it done on time, as prescribed. Not doing it – meaning failing to adhere to the care tasks and care plan – can have serious consequences. Sometimes life and death consequences. The technology must communicate, notify, and record when a task is performed. That way, we and the other people on the care team can know if there are any barriers or challenges to getting things done per the doctor's instructions. We have to follow the plan to the letter, because not doing so can have devastating effects.
Does your healthcare application meet these criteria? If not, then it's time for you to download and install the Care3 mobile messaging app. It's 100% FREE.
Download_on_the_App_Store_Badge_US-UK_135x40
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.
Turn Your Care Plans Into Action
Doctors are required to provide care managers, patients, and family caregivers with information (e.g., care instructions) to help them reach their optimal level of health following an appointment or inpatient stay at a hospital. However, these instructions are often discussed when patients and family are not receptive to listening or able to comprehend detailed information on how to provide care outside of the hospital (e.g., at hospital discharge). On top of that, the instructions are paper-based, full of medical jargon, and often not delivered to family or case managers responsible for care outside of the doctor's office or hospital. Care3 helps solve that problem by turning paper care instructions into action so you can be ready to deliver the right care at the right time. And the Care3 mobile messaging app is HIPAA-compliant.
Care3 helps you sequence Actions over time from the care instructions recommended by a provider. The care instructions may include individual Actions including activities of daily living (ADLs), taking medicine, scheduling appointments, rides, errands, refilling prescriptions, exercise and more.
Action messages structure the information from care instructions into individual tasks and daily activities, delivering them as text messages to the entire Care Team. For every Action, Care3 asks the care team members to accept, and complete it. Everyone knows how to help and has visibility on what tasks are complete.
Care3 helps you turn care instructions into action. Download the FREE Care3 app for iPhone or iPad now!
HIPAA Compliance is No Longer Optional for Mobile Messaging
In today's consumer-driven healthcare environment, it's imperative for providers, patients, and families be able to communicate in a HIPAA-compliant manner. Having a patient portal isn't enough. The engagement levels are too low. You need a HIPAA-compliant mobile messaging solution for your communications between staff and with clients and their families. Care3 is the first and only HIPAA-compliant text messaging app available directly to consumers (DTC) with integrated calendar and to-do list features. This means that you can download Care3 directly from the iTunes App Store (iPhone and iPad available) to communicate all health-related information with healthcare professionals, family members and friends with confidence. Your messages will be private, secure, and compliant with the gold standard of communication encryption and data storage.
And before you ask, the answer is yes: Care3 is 100% FREE to download.
What makes Care3 different from other HIPAA-compliant messaging apps?
Simply stated, Care3 is far more than messaging and has a bias toward action.
Care3 includes:
- HIPAA-compliant messaging to securely communicate with your staff and families.
- Care Team group conversations to include professionals and family members engaged.
- Action Messages (patent-pending) to show staff and family members what care tasks need completion and keep track of progress.
- A full-featured Calendar to review what Actions you have accepted with each day's to-do list included.
- Invitations that are sent via text message or email just by starting a new conversation.
- A Starter Care Plan template of common care tasks (fully customizable) for all Care Teams.
Care3 makes you more effective at managing care to get the best outcomes for your patients and families while not compromising privacy, security, and confidentiality while communicating. No other HIPAA-compliant messaging application provides this much functionality--whether a paid app or free. And did we mention Care3 is FREE?
Download and install the FREE Care3 mobile messaging app now! Communicate in compliance with your staff and family clients.