Following her throat cancer diagnosis, the patient had to have a tracheotomy surgically implanted, rendering her nonverbal. Thanks to a two-way video system mounted on a small, remote-controlled robot, she is able to communicate with her caregivers from Acacia Living in Santa Barbara, California. This is her story.
Acacia joins Zoom to Kubi
Two years ago, Rob Rossi, then CIO of Acacia Living, was introduced to Zoom Video Communications as a business communications solution to help an eldercare client with online meetings. Rossi quickly realized there was a bigger opportunity: to help healthcare providers and family members use telepresence to create a more connected and safer environment for their at-home elders.
With this vision, Rossi adopted Zoom for CARE Network, a new care management solution from Acacia Living that leverages the simplicity of the Zoom video communications platform with the power of Kubi telepresence robots.
"10,000 people a day are turning 65, and that will be the case for the next 16 years," says Rick Slager, CEO of LivHOME, CARE Network’s anchor client. "That's too many people to house in senior care buildings and staffing enough caregivers for residents is not-possible." Face-to-face video connectivity is a key component to support our ability to age in place.
The CARE Network's video solution is provided through a dedicated appliance in the aging person's home. The concept of the CARE Network kiosk began as an electronic picture frame with many features under the hood. It needed a place in the home, but the challenge with video conferencing is that you were restricted to a viewing angle dictated by the location of the kiosk tablet in the home. That’s when Rob Rossi discovered Kubi’s website and connected to the Revolve Robotics live demo. Remotely turning the iPad on the Kubi with Zoom brought him face-to-face, literally, with Marcus Rosenthal, CEO of Revolve Robotics for the first time - on a Kubi. They had a meeting of the minds.
"Combined with a Kubi, Zoom can provide a virtual presence, with gestures and the ability to look around,” says Marcus Rosenthal, CEO of Revolve Robotics. “This increases the value of the CARE Network kiosk because care managers can literally see more, effectively collecting more caregiving and status information."
Care managers and providers all saw this was far better than existing solutions, better than watching people with video surveillance systems, better than mobile device solutions that require older people to hold and operate a smartphone. And with Zoom’s security features, Rosenthal emphasized, healthcare professionals remain HIPAA compliant.
"The folks at Zoom want to change people’s lives," says Rob Rossi, so our companies are culturally aligned. The CARE Network seamlessly integrated Zoom's video services directly into the elder care management application and kiosk. Because Zoom has integrated Kubi controls, CARE network users can easily control and position the iPad on in the Kubi for more effective communication. The integration makes for a cost effective solution that is so easy to use there is virtually no training needed. Kiosk users press Accept or Decline to answer inbound video calls. Some clients use the auto answer feature.
As soon as they started piloting, CARE Managers saw they could dramatically increase the frequency of client touches to supplement in-person visits. Today, CARE Network with Zoom on Kubi allow supervisory visits, patient check-ins and new care provider introductions as well as video calls from family and friends.
Back to Santa Barbara
The throat cancer patient communicates with Amber, her caregiver at Acacia Living, by writing on a dry erase board and holds it in front of the tablet's camera, which a remote case manager can move using Kubi. Amber, Santa Barbara’s LivHOME's Connect Advisor, has worked hard to build relationships with their clients through regular video calls and in-home visits. In May of 2016, early in the evening the client hit her “Call Me” button 4 times in a row.
Amber saw the alert and made a video call via CARE Network on Kubi. She immediately saw her client was in distress and was able to calm her down enough to remind her to push her emergency pendant. The client was choking on some chicken noodle soup. Amber stayed on the line as the EMTs arrived. She quickly summarized the medical emergency to the EMTs allowing them to immediately address the client’s issue. These first responders we able to clear her trach tube so she could breathe comfortably. With her breathing restored, the client was stabilized. The EMTs assessment confirmed the client was comfortable and stable. This meant she did not need to go to the hospital emergency room. We believe Amber saved the client from a healthcare calamity because of LivHOME's use of the CARE Network. The client avoided an ambulance transport to the ER, a long wait in the ER waiting room at night, and the trouble of finding a way back home if the hospital discharged her. This solution saved her health insurance provider $12,000 - $20,000 for the ER visit. The people and technology saved her life and avoided the cost and challenges of a late night trip to the emergency room.