With COVID-19 adding to the stresses of hospice care, some hospice providers are turning to technology to address nurse burnout. Technology that eases communication among team members, patients, and families can help relieve the burden on nurses. A recent article sponsored by Citus Health in Hospice News explains how.

“Technology has been a critical element in managing patient care over the last several months, and many organizations are seeking platforms that can help them solve the nurse burnout issue,” says Rob Stoltz, VP of business development for Citus Health, which provides care collaboration technology for in-home care providers.

The efforts fall into three categories:

Optimizing IDG Coordination

In a structured interdisciplinary (or multidisciplinary) group (IDG), team members work together to care for patients and to support one another. IDGs have been linked to preventing nurse burnout.

Technology can provide a communications hub for team members and support patient discussion groups. Citus Health technology can set up action items gleaned from patient discussion groups. For example, an instant video chat can easily coordinate team members, external partners, and family caregivers to solve a patient need.

Improving Work-life Balance

Technology that captures patient-related communication in a single spot enables all members of the care team, including family members, to have real-time information. Instant messaging and auto-escalation protocols frees the nurse from serving as the central contact.

Streamlining Family Communications

Instant messaging and video chat functionalities can streamline communications with multiple family members in real time—and remove nurses from navigating family dynamics. Updates keep family members informed and included.

Updates also enable nurses to save time spent communicating with multiple family members and focus instead on serving patients. To keep everyone on the same page, the IDG can access the platform to see the communications family members have received.

Care coordination platforms that integrate into the hospice organization’s electronic health record, as the Citus Health platform does, can automatically add any data captured on the platform to the patient record.

CAST Technology Selection Tool

To evaluate technologies that can improve care coordination at your facility, use the LeadingAge CAST Shared Care Planning and Coordination Technology Selection Tool. With a white paper, interactive guide, selection matrix, online selection tool, and provider case studies, it can help you identify, choose, and implement the right technology for your organization.

This tool is one of eight LeadingAge CAST Technology Selection Tools to help you find the best tech solutions on various topics.