The home health care sector is growing in the United States and Canada.  Solutions that streamline or eliminate paperwork, improve communication amongst administrators, therapists and clients and provide immediate response at the point of care are critical for improving efficiency and effectiveness of home healthcare delivery within the constraints of a challenging economy and funding restrictions.
The EHR (Electronic Health Record) is the way of the future.  EHR implementations are beginning to accelerate as a result of the need for improved workflow and accurate clinical documentation to support billing and clinical data.  Wireless solutions adoption supports development/adoption of the EHR.
Therapy Partners is a proud member of the CBI Health Group.  CBI Health is a privately owned leading Canadian healthcare services and management company dedicated to providing an integrated approach to health management.
Therapy Partners, located in Southern Ontario Canada provides a valuable service to clients in their community, through the agencys team of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, social workers, speech pathologists and dietitians. Due to the nature of their jobs, Therapy Partners team commutes extensively  to homes, long-term care facilities, schools and offices.  The priority is client care, with therapists providing from five to eight clinical visits per day.  The administrative work  required for accurate medical records, billing and scheduling was previously completed by hand, on paper, after hours, which was taking an extra hour or two at the end of the day and often interfered with personal time.  Once the paperwork was completed, it had to be inputted into the back-end record keeping systems, which duplicated the administrative process and increased the chances of error in the process.  
Therapy Partners looked at the BlackBerry solution as a way to transfer administrative work to the point-of care. Instead of having to come back to an office, or work after hours, they saw wireless technology as a way of getting the administrative work done accurately and timely on-the-spot, while with clients.
Therapy Partners is now able to provide better communication and time management because of the email and GPS mapping on their BlackBerry smartphones, which helps therapists stay in touch with the healthcare team and get to appointments more easily. Therapists are also reducing up to two hours of administrative work per day because of the MedShare application for BlackBerry.  This opens up the business potential to schedule more appointments per day.  

Therapy Partners looked at the BlackBerry solution as a way to transfer administrative work to the point-of-care. Instead of having the therapists come back to the office or work after hours, they saw wireless technology as a way of getting the administrative work done on-the-spot, while with clients.  
The continual contact with email is also an attractive feature.  Therapists used to communicate by phone with colleagues and other healthcare workers.  Voicemails piled up and notes had to be taken.  With BlackBerry smartphones, the majority of their communications can be handled by email.  The secure capabilities of the BlackBerry smartphone also allow therapists to send secure emails to get more information before a client visit, instead of playing telephone tag. They get faster answers from the head office or from other therapists that helps them do their job better. 
The therapists are also using GPS-enabled BlackBerry smartphones, which is an important feature for people who travel to new locations several times a week.  GPS mapping in this convenient form means they get to their destination easier.  Therapy Partners pays their therapists mileage costs, so its an advantage to them that GPS on their BlackBerry smartphones reduces lost time and mileage costs related to finding new client locations.  

Yes

Yes

Therapy Partners deployed MedShare for BlackBerry for their therapists.  The mobile application captures client visit information and allows on-the-spot scheduling. A therapist can wirelessly book an appointment, confirm theyve seen the patient and enter the details of the visit  all from their BlackBerry smartphone!  

The solution has made Therapy Partners entire system more efficient.  Whatever happens during a visit is now entered on the BlackBerry smartphone and its automatically routed to the back-end MedShare HC database.  It reduces up to two hours of administration effort that therapists were putting in every night  also eliminating the middle step, because it removed the need for someone to manually enter the information at the office.  Therapists are now able to increase the number of visits they can complete in one day because of the reduced amount of paperwork.

Using the MedShare for BlackBerry application, a therapist can also get more background information about a case, while they are enroute to the patient.  More details are stored in the application, such as case workers contact information, which can help fill in the gaps of information.

Providing the MedShare for BlackBerry application to therapists has resulted in increased employee retention related to appreciation of up to date technological capacity.  In a 3-month time period in 2007 (without the Solution) compared to the same time period in 2008 (with the Solution), therapists generated more revenue per person which is evidence of employees increased efficiency.  The improved efficiency also resulted in less intrusion on personal time.  However, therapists also appreciate the 24/7 BlackBerry access to communicate and enter data at their convenience.  The efficiencies have permitted increased number of visits which has improved their compensation as well as reduced time required to complete all work related to clinical visits.

The reality is funding is not increasing in community-based healthcare. Im very open to technology like the BlackBerry solution because it benefits our companys ability to make more client visits and improve the quality of life for our therapists.                     Christine Reno, Business Director, Therapy Partners.

MedShare for BlackBerry Solution has been a significant benefit to workers in the field as well as for administrative staff in the back office by allowing for greater ease in tracking clients, providers, billing records and client information. 
With the BlackBerry Solution, Therapy Partners therapists are able to communicate and manage their time more effectively.  Both email and GPS mapping on their BlackBerry smartphones helps therapists stay in touch with the healthcare team and get to and from appointments more easily, increasing the overall quality of their care.
The MedShare for BlackBerry application allows therapists to enter notes and do scheduling on location, reducing up to two hours of after hour work and opening up the business potential to schedule more appointments per day. A solution such as the MedShare for BlackBerry application improves a therapists quality of working experience, which we think encourages them to stay in the community-based healthcare sector and with Therapy Partners. 

The MedShare for BlackBerry Solution is a completely new wireless product.  As such, significant back office effort was provided to the software developer to ensure relevant and reliable content, and functionality was achieved.  Many hours of internal communication, a successful pilot project and justification for full implementation was carried out.  Financial support was secured to fund BlackBerry devices and training time.  A wireless service provider was identified that provided the network support at an affordable price point.  All back office staff and therapists were compensated for their time related to all aspects of this project.  All this was achieved with no increase in funding and a $0 budget allocation.  As with any new software, many technical problems were identified and solved related to both hardware and software.  Collaboration with the software developer to achieve ongoing product features and improvements in new releases continues.

In order to overcome the financial obstacle of $0 budget allocation for this project, working partnerships were established with RIM, MedShare (the software developer) and Telus (the wireless network services provider).  A budget line is now in place for ongoing use of the Solution.  Results of staff surveys and an ROI evaluation provided the business rationale for creation of this budget line through reallocation of resources from other budget lines.

Exceeded

The Home Healthcare industry is growing at a rapid pace.  At the same time the development of the EHR is also accelerating.  There is a growing need for streamlining of communication and information exchange amongst all healthcare sectors.  It is critical that the automation of inefficient processes, the enablement of interdisciplinary communication and the push of critical information to the point of care be in place in order for home care organizations to function efficiently.  The global aging population and shift to care in the home demands this.  
Mobile technology and wireless applications have the potential to completely overhaul inefficient workflow processes and optimize quality and efficiency of provision of home care services.  The successful implementation of the MedShare for BlackBerry Solution moves this potential to reality and demonstrates that the financial investment is justified.  This success will drive further support and broader sector adoption and funding. 

The design stage for content for the Solution encompassed approximately one year.  The pilot phase for 20 therapist users began as a three month and extended to a 9 month period.  The extension was a result of a commitment to have the majority of new product bugs worked out prior to full implementation. The pilot therapists were the envy of their peers as the feedback regarding the positive advantages of the MedShare for BlackBerry Solution was clear.   All therapists have been live with the system for 10 months since July 2008.  The therapists are clear that they would not give up their BlackBerries now.