Allina Health was recently featured by CBSN Minnesota for their Hospital Home Care Program, a program the organization is offering to help patients recover from COVID-19—among other conditions—at home. Through the program, Allina provides patients with the HRS telehealth solution to help them monitor their condition and recover in the comfort of their own home.
Allina Health helped Senior Pastor Greg Boyd in Maplewood, MN recover from COVID-19 through their Hospital at Home program after he contracted COVID-19 in October 2020. Boyd was supplied with a tablet and pulse oximeter to monitor his symptoms. He also had daily in-person and virtual visits with a nursing team. Boyd’s Allina Health care team had 24/7 access to his vitals through the HRS clinical dashboard, and were able to communicate seamlessly with Boyd in the event of symptom exacerbations that needed addressing. Since May of 2020, Allina has successfully treated nearly 500 patients through its program - "all with success, so far."This 2 minute video tells Greg Boyd's story of using telehealth for his COVID-19 recovery.
How does the HRS platform work?
The HRS telehealth solution includes a tablet, thermometer, blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter, scale, and more, depending on the patient’s condition. For COVID-19 patients, all tablets are provisioned with symptom surveys, COVID education, COVID Care and Recovery Plans, and one-touch communication tools. Clinicians have the ability to conduct multiple patient check-ins daily to ensure symptoms are not worsening or to make necessary care plan adjustments.
HRS recently covered the new steps taken by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to assist with strains on hospital capacity due to the recent COVID-19 surge—now offering new allowances for telehealth and remote patient monitoring in what CMS is calling the Acute Hospital Care at Home program.
The Acute Hospital Care at Home program provides eligible hospitals with unprecedented regulatory flexibilities to treat eligible patients in their homes by leveraging the latest technology available.