Kathy Driscoll, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CCM, September 27, 2024
New digital tools provide efficiency and better clinical data for nurses while empowering patients with easy access to their health information and their clinicians, says this CNO.
Editor's note: Kathy Driscoll, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CCM, is the senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Humana.
In recent years, we have witnessed significant advances in technology that have reshaped the health care industry and particularly improved the home health landscape. Innovations such as telehealth services and remote patient monitoring assist health care practitioners in their daily tasks and help extend the reach of care to underserved and hard-to-reach communities.
In a time of persistent workforce shortages, gaps in access to care and increased complexity of care, technology has proven vital to expanding care delivery methods, benefiting patients and providers alike.
Going mobile
For example, CenterWell Home Health’s PRIME wound management program began piloting a new mobile app in 2021 to help its nurses more accurately track a patient’s progress on wound recovery. The app includes software that measures a wound's length, width and depth, improving the consistency and reliability of this task.
As use of the tool became more commonplace, the clinicians began to recognize the need for certain changes and additional features, such as simplifying the user interface and adding a rear-camera “selfie” mode – in cases when photographing a patient’s wound from the front of their tablets was difficult. We shared these recommendations with the company behind the app, who is now working to implement them. This made our clinicians feel heard – and thereby empowered.
One of the significant benefits resulting from these advances is that home health nurses can now spend more time caring for patients rather than being consumed by administrative work. For instance, voice-to-text technology has revolutionized documentation by enabling health care professionals to convert speech instantly into text, speeding up record-keeping and ensuring more accurate patient records.
Clinicians are also leveraging the potential of mobile health applications and remote monitoring devices to help improve quality of care delivery and treatment management. These tools track patient health metrics in real time, enabling health care providers to monitor a patient’s condition continually and respond promptly when problematic changes are detected.
Portable noninvasive monitoring technologies help provide detailed insights into patients’ health without the need for invasive procedures. These technologies are particularly beneficial for patients in rural or underserved areas, helping ensure that geographical location does not compromise quality of care. This helps providers streamline their processes, aiming to limit any lapses in communication from the clinic to the patient’s home that could affect treatment.
Transformation through telehealth
The widespread adoption of telehealth has also dramatically transformed the health care landscape, proving its essential role in care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic when traditional face-to-face interactions were limited. Telehealth platforms can benefit care delivery in the home, making more frequent interactions between provider and patient possible and enabling better management of chronic diseases.
Features such as virtual visits and remote diagnostics enhance care without the need for physical travel. As telehealth technology continues to evolve, its role in supporting patient engagement and optimizing health care resources can significantly improve patients’ access to care.
These digital tools provide efficiency and better clinical data for nurses while empowering patients with easy access to their health information and their clinicians. Stronger patient-provider relationships develop when patients feel in control of their health, which facilitates more personalized care tailored to the individual’s needs.
Good physician-patient communication can ultimately lead to improved patient health due to factors such as increased comprehension, stress reduction and increased compliance. With ongoing innovation and the thoughtful integration of new tools—complemented by nurses' skills and their human touch—we can improve the quality of patient care, creating a more effective, patient-centric health care system.
Editor's note: Care to share your view? HealthLeaders accepts original thought leadership articles from healthcare industry leaders in active executive roles at payer and provider organizations. These may include case studies, research, and guest editorials. We neither accept payment nor offer compensation for contributed content.
Kathy Driscoll, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CCM, May 13, 2022
Humana's chief nursing officer shares five benefits of home care nursing.
Editor's note: Kathy Driscoll, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CCM, is the senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Humana.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded the public that nurses are the backbone and the heart of our healthcare ecosystem. Throughout the past two years, nurses willingly put themselves at risk of infection from COVID-19 every day, while working long hours and experiencing burnout, to have a positive impact on the health of their patients.
The challenges of the pandemic have caused significant turnover, as many nurses retired early or decided to leave their direct patient care jobs for less stressful positions. With more than 20% of hospital nurses saying they intend to leave their jobs, what else can they consider that provides the same sense of purpose?
One employment option nurses may want to consider is home care. This rapidly growing industry offers nurses the opportunity to work one-on-one with patients in the comfort of their homes for a wide array of services—from primary care to IV infusions and acute care. McKinsey & Company estimates that the amount of care being delivered at home for Medicare FFS and MA beneficiaries will increase up to fourfold by 2025.
During the pandemic, home care saw a major increase in demand as patients feared going to hospitals and doctors' offices for risk of infection. This care was crucial during COVID-19, as home care lightened the burden on overcrowded hospitals and also has been shown to improve health outcomes for patients.
As a career option, home care offers a variety of perks for nurses. As a registered nurse and certified case manager myself, I can think of at least five benefits of home care nursing:
Purpose. Nurses are strongly motivated by their sense of purpose and doing meaningful work, derived through helping people. According to the American Nurses Foundation, during the pandemic, home care nurses reported feeling that their work had more meaning more than nurses across all other practice settings combined.
Quality of care. Why do these nurses feel a sense of purpose? It's the quality of care that home care provides. At Humana-owned CenterWell Home Health, for example, skilled nurses and therapists help people recover from illness or injury and learn to manage their health with confidence. This helps them remain independent and enjoy a higher quality of life.
Relationships. When a patient goes to the hospital, the highest priority is to stabilize the patient so he or she can return home. As a result, the relationship with the nurse is often short. However, nurses working in a home setting are often able to work with the same patient over time. This allows them to develop trusting relationships with their patients and feel a personal connection to their work.
Flexibility and autonomy. Home care can offer flexible schedules and autonomy—a benefit most nurses would appreciate if they've experienced long hospital shifts. In addition, nurses may have opportunities with virtual positions, checking in on patients via telehealth and remote patient monitoring.
Understanding the whole person. By getting an inside look at the patient's home and lifestyle, nurses can help them in a more holistic way by addressing the social determinants of health, such as access to nutritious food, transportation, and mental health.
After the past two years, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the courageous nurses who risked their lives on the frontlines. The pandemic caused unimaginable stress and burnout for nurses, and we are seeing the effects in the high rates of turnover among nurses at hospitals. While there are support systems in place to help nurses cope, it's important they are aware of opportunities to help patients outside of hospitals.
To all nurses taking on new roles—from the seasoned pros looking for a change, to the nearly 180,000 nurses graduating each year—thank you for your care and commitment to making a positive impact on people's lives. I hope that wherever you help patients, it feels like home for them.
Howard, J., Kent, T., Stuck, A., Crowley, C., & Zeng, F. (2019). Improved Cost and Utilization Among Medicare Beneficiaries Dispositioned From the ED to Receive Home Health Care Compared With Inpatient Hospitalization. The American Journal of Accountable Care, 7(1).
Care to share your view? HealthLeaders accepts original thought leadership articles from healthcare industry leaders in active executive roles at payer and provider organizations. These may include case studies, research, and guest editorials. We neither accept payment nor offer compensation for contributed content. Send questions and submissions to Erika Randall, content manager, erandall@healthleadersmedia.com.
Kathy Driscoll, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CCM, is the SVP and Chief Nursing Officer at Humana. Kathy oversees Humana's strategy of improving the experience of Humana's nearly 10,000 nurses, care managers, and social workers. She is on the Board of Trustees for the American Nurses Foundation and is a member of numerous professional organizations including The American Nurses Association and the Case Management Society of America.
