Technology and Health Care

As a member of ABC Consultants, I have been hired by Beverly’s Home Health Care, Inc. to develop an innovative approach using software technology in health care delivery.

“Beverly's Home Health Care, Inc. is a licensed, insured, and bonded personal care service provider. Based in Rego Park, New York, it has been serving clients throughout New York's five boroughs and Nassau County. The company provides Home Health Aids (HHA), Personal Care Aids (PCA) and Skilled Nursing Services”. (About Beverly's Home Health Care (n. d)

Beverly's Home Health Care Inc. was founded in 1996 by Beverly Nichols, a Geriatrics Care Manager, committed to providing personalized care to those in need (About Beverly's Home Health Care (n. d)

There is some information about the founder. According to Paul Rodgers (Rodgers P. (2011) “Beverly Nichols, founder of Beverley's Home Health Care Inc, a US$5-million company with 200 employees in New York, mostly Jamaicans who moved to New York for a better life. It has 180 long-term patients, from children with special needs to geriatric shut-ins.”

Quality improvement is as central to Beverly's Home Health Care Inc. as to any other field of health care. Like any hospitals, nursing homes, other health care agencies that health care provider relays on up to day’s technology to run his business. Software problems can literally shut the business down, so it is important to install reliable equipment possible.

Home health agencies face a few major problems that technologies can solve: visit compliance, data collection, and error reporting, mileage, and time reimbursements and scheduling communication. But there is a problem the home health care agencies are facing:: usually they are not big facilities and can’t afford pricy software equipment.

Home healthcare agencies need a patient billing and tracking system, which will be affordable and easy to use. A seamless, shared electronic medical record is essential for communication, but current platforms are not designed to integrate home care, hospital, and office records. Several innovative home care companies are attempting to do so, however.

There are many software systems for health care needs on the market these days. (“The McKesson Homecare Agency Management home health software”, “Axxess’ Agency core home health care software”, “Alora Healthcare System” and others). Majority of solutions are for hospitals and practices, not for .a home health care agencies. Among others, Alora Healthcare System is slightly different. It has been on the market since 2005.

“Alora was built on state of the art Microsoft .Net technology and SQL Server database system, which are powerful, stable, and reliable. Alora's database system can store unlimited amount of data while performing at the highest level. Alora home care software is an ideal solution for home health agencies of any size! ” (Special Promotional Offer forFebruary 2013)

What statement attracts attention that it has been designed specifically for home care agencies. The Alora’s billing module easily generates claims. In addition, it can generate Private Pay invoices and posts charges to A/R during this claim generation. It comes with a full list of ICD9 codes with new codes added through regular software updates. Smart software equipment organist everything from patient billing to scheduling. It’s truly designed for people who need it fast and simple. “Alora Home Health Software system is delivered as a Single-User or a Multi-User Edition” (Special Promotional Offer forFebruary 2013)

There are options for using the soft ware equipment on-premise and web.. Those allow users to access the solution from any mobile device like tablet, iPad or smartphone and PC,. The onsite installation gives users opportunity the software offline while at the patient's home. That’s offers a complete software solution for agencies successfully manage their business

Its thoughtful design requires a minimum of training and can be configured and set up in a few hours.

Rich with features and functionality, Alora Home Care Software is offered at a price that is unmatched in the industry.

There are about 5,000 Alora Home Health Software system users from 40 states across the United States. Customers using the equipment admit, that the Alora Healthcare Systems is easy to learn and easy to work with. Many of them have been impressed with the customer service attitude. Susan from Universal Nursing Services, Inc. | December 2012 says, “The system is up to date to meet new Medicare requests. This has been a headache for all agencies.” (Special Promotional Offer forFebruary 2013)

Joe Kozlosky, West Allis, Wisconsin stated, "When we first started using Alora Homecare software, I was surprised to see how user-friendly it was! We have been using it for about six years and we are very happy with it. Alora does a commendable job of technical support. Any question/problem gets resolved immediately, on the first phone call. I will recommend this program to anyone looking for a good home care system." (Special Promotional Offer forFebruary 2013)

According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2010), by 2030, nearly one of five Americans will be aged 65 and older. Millions of aging Americans believe that when the time comes and they need some assistance, they will get it while remaining at home, in the comfort of their own homes not in a Nosing Home, rest home or other institution. People rely on home care. There is no more important social value than making parent’s life comfortable and happy if we want to be happy in our future.

Numerous scientific evidences show that patients heal more quickly at home and there is very high consumer satisfaction associated with care delivered in the home.

There is one more reason yet for senior citizens for preferring services provided by home care agencies to another institutions – it’s cheaper. We all know that the health care over the last decade getting more and more expensive. Not every one can afford it. In his best-selling book “You Can’t Afford to Get Sick by Andrew Weil (Hudson Street Press,2010) explains how we can and why we must keep ourselves healthy as long as possible and stop making corporations rich and transform the American health care system. .