Through a new technology currently offered by Intel-GE Care Innovations in beta form, caregivers can access a platform to enable the 65 million Americans who currently count caregiving among their responsibilities to streamline the process of care.
The technology, Connect Caregiver, first launched through a partnership with two caregiver advocacy organizations and is now available to members as well as non-members of those groups. Other caregiving platforms have emerged recently to assist the millions of Americans who not only provide caregiving services but also manage full time jobs. Tech provider Philips launched a Community Without Walls product earlier this year.
From shared contacts to a shared calendar and incorporating local resources such as home maintenance professionals, the new Intel-GE Care Innovations platform brings parties together throughout the caregiving process.
“The idea is to bring all of the tools and capabilities into one place to competently manage the care of a loved one,” says Shannon McIntyre, a spokeswoman for Care Innovations. “They are able to share tasks with a the ‘care circle,’ from organizing medications to tracking vital signs and other measurements.”
The web-based platform is open to all independent caregivers with a hope to launch a completed version by subscription in 2014. While currently it is available to those who are independent, Care Innovations envisions the ways in which the technology may connect community-based care with those independent caregivers.
“That is the next step of this,” McIntyre says. “We plan to make the information in this tool shareable so you can pull in more enterprise level folks, doctors and clinicians and down the road, senior care providers.”
The beta phase enables Care Innovations to gather feedback among caregivers before launching its final form.
“That’s the beauty of the beta phase,” McIntyre says. “[We can say] ‘What works? What doesn’t work? Who should we bring into the mix?” We will get some great insights into this population to adapt the tool before the launch.”
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
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