Canadian technology company VitalHub is deploying its COVID-19 electronic screening tool to the Region of Waterloo-owned Sunnyside Home Long-Term Care, in support of their response to the deepening COVID-19 crisis.
The development of this screening tool followed Sunnyside Home’s request for a solution to manage and conduct ongoing resident screening for symptoms typical of COVID-19.
“Ensuring the safety of residents and staff is our highest priority,” said Julie Wheeler Administrator, Sunnyside Homes. “When we reached out to VitalHub to help us with resident screening they were able to develop and implement something in 24 hours. Every minute counts when it comes to safety, having the capacity to respond to our needs so quickly is what every Long-Term Care Home needs.”
“We have been deeply grateful for the support and assistance that VitalHub has provided to Sunnyside Home. Their effective tools have greatly reduced documentation time for care staff and their responsiveness and support has been outstanding,” said Connie Lacy, Director of Seniors’ Services for the Region of Waterloo. “During the COVID crisis, VitalHub has been there for us and responded immediately with innovative screening solutions. We value them highly as a partner in care delivery.”
“The current COVID-19 crisis presents a very appropriate use-case illustrating the value and power of the DOCit app,” said Dan Matlow, CEO of VitalHub Corp. “As a home-specific, configurable assessment, the DOCit solution provides more in-depth analysis of COVID patients, equipping care providers with the ability to identify symptom trending and clusters of affected individuals quickly and early on, which we have learned is of critical importance in fighting the pandemic. Given the increased risk of severe outcomes, we believe enabling nursing homes and other at-risk facilities with these tools is very important.”
VitalHub, who are behind WellLinc, an Electronic Health Record built on the Hyperledger Fabric, has leveraged its “DOCit” mobile app, which was specifically designed with these kinds of screening initiatives in mind, to enable the rapid development of its COVID-19 screening solution.
DOCit allows care facilities to easily configure and deploy any kind of screening or recurring task, enabling extremely high visibility compliance and reporting standards for both internal and external stakeholders, such as care providers, operations staff, and National, Provincial or Regional Health Authorities.
PSWs and RPNs use DOCit to record staff-resident interactions and observations on a mobile device instead of on multiple paper-based and electronic systems throughout the facility. By providing real-time mobile access to important information and tasks, DOCit will improve quality of care, save time and cost, ensure data accuracy, and increase staff satisfaction.
As the number of COVID-19 outbreaks across Long-Term Care homes continues to overwhelm frontline caregivers and cause significant deleterious effects, Sunnyside Home has chosen to deploy this innovative screening tool as one of several proactive and early-warning measures to protect their residents and staff.
Accessed through VitalHub’s senior-care-focused mobile app called “DOCit”, care providers are required to screen all residents at various regularly scheduled times throughout the day and identify residents exhibiting symptoms of acute respiratory illness, including documenting temperature, worsening cough, shortness of breath, headache, etc. Specific responses to certain inputs trigger escalation to relevant care staff in real-time for appropriate action to be taken. Sunnyside Home has already successfully identified clusters of symptoms using the Company’s DOCit electronic COVID-19 screening tool, which has allowed measures to be taken to minimize the potential risk of transmission.
The nursing and retirement home community is older and have complex chronic health conditions, and emerging information on COVID-19 suggests elderly individuals and those with underlying health conditions are at increased risk of severe outcomes. As of Monday, April 6, 2020, there have been 46 COVID-19 outbreaks reported in long-term care facilities in Ontario. In light of this, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has issued guidance imploring homes to implement enhanced measures to ensure readiness to contain and respond to COVID-19.
VitalHub develops mission-critical technology solutions for Health and Human Services providers in the Mental Health (Child through Adult), Long Term Care, Community Health Service, Home Health, Social Service and Acute Care sectors. VitalHub technologies include Blockchain, Mobile, Patient Flow, Web-Based Assessment and Electronic Health Record solutions.
In late February, Vitalhub announced an upsized bought deal offering $13.5 million in investment in a private placement. The company is based in Toronto, Canada, with an offshore development hub in Sri Lanka and is publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “VHI”.