This article is sponsored by Interlace Health. In this interview, Home Health Care News sits down with Allison Reichenbach, President at Interlace Health, to talk about longevity and credibility in health care, and how Interlace is helping providers navigate those areas as the home-based care space evolves. She discusses the steps providers can take to eliminate inefficiencies and put time and money back into their businesses, as well as the role of eForms and eSignature solutions in that mission.
What career experiences do you most draw from in your role today?
I was an attorney before joining Interlace, so when I started with the company, I gravitated towards what I knew best — contracts. However, in recent years I’ve broadened my focus, though I still find myself drawing on my legal background frequently to address our customers’ challenges. They face significant constraints, surrounded by complex legislation and regulation, which requires us to navigate a careful path forward.
When I entered the tech world at Interlace, I was apprehensive about technology like most in health care, where it’s often seen as an impediment to getting the job done rather than a useful tool. But I believe this perception can change. I’ve spent a lot of time understanding our clients’ needs and how the regulatory landscape impacts their businesses. Attention to detail is critical to anticipating the real-world impacts of decisions, and along with solid action plans and constant communication, we’ve been able to devise some of the best solutions out there.
Being effective in technology and law shares many competencies, such as research, strategic planning, and clear communication. These are the skills I’ve been relying on to contribute positively at Interlace, and I draw on them every day in my current role.
With more than 30 years in the health care industry, what are some of the most significant changes Interlace Health has witnessed, and what has stayed the same?
In health care tech, 30 years can feel like an eternity, and it feels like we’ve been in business since the dawn of time. Interlace was founded in 1992 by my father, Rob Harding, prior to much of the regulation we deal with today. HIPAA hadn’t even been enacted yet! I feel like we’ve seen it all, and getting to witness the seismic shifts in the industry since then has been nothing short of remarkable.
Although I’ve officially been part of the company for just 12 years, I’ve been sitting courtside for the entirety of the journey and can speak to what I’ve seen. Initially, we tackled the inefficiency of preprinted hospital forms and costly print shop services by introducing a chip for printers, revolutionizing how documentation was produced on demand, and eliminating the need for massive stocks of forms that quickly became obsolete.
This solution, still in use by some of our clients, underscores the enduring nature of certain challenges. Building on that foundation, we’ve developed web-based forms, electronic signatures and sophisticated workflow tools to ease the administrative burdens of patient intake and informed consent processes, catering to clients at various stages of technological adoption.
I think even though we as a society are seeing huge leaps in technology, whether it’s, mobile depositing or even streaming platforms, health care hasn’t really come as far as we’d like to think. Even in the most advanced hospitals, where robotic surgery is performed, the reliance on paper forms is still significant. This dichotomy shows the potential for technological innovation in health care, particularly in administration, where the need has been amplified by the current staffing shortages. It not only emphasizes how much work we have to do, but also the importance of our work as the industry evolves.
What steps can providers take to eliminate inefficiencies and put more time and money back into their businesses?
Certain aspects of home health care can’t be automated and shouldn’t be picked over for inefficiencies because they are at the core of what we do. Whether direct patient care or family engagement and communication, these interactions embody the field’s unique value and drive demand, so spending less time on them could come at a great cost.
Administrative duties, on the other hand, such as patient intake, documentation, consenting and reconsenting — optimizing and automating these tasks can enhance operational efficiency. This behind-the-scenes work, when made more efficient, supports the primary goal of delivering quality care without burdening clinical staff or patients with unnecessary administrative tasks.
How does Interlace Health help home-based care agencies optimize their team efficiencies?
As the demand for home-based care surges, staffing shortages and financial constraints are creating even greater hurdles for providers, magnified by the constantly shifting regulatory landscape. In turn, driving efficiencies has never been more important.
We’re bringing our expertise to the home-based care space to help reduce the administrative burden on nurses so they can focus on direct patient care. But technology adoption, in health care especially, often fails because it either introduces complex new processes or complicates existing ones without improving efficiency.
In response, our approach does not just introduce new processes hoping to solve complex issues. Instead, we draw on the insights of team members with home health backgrounds, engaging deeply with current practices to enhance and streamline them through automation. This method fosters better technology adoption, as we prioritize understanding and improving real-life workflows over imposing idealized solutions. Our goal is to simplify, not to complicate, ensuring our technology genuinely meets the needs of those on the front lines.
What differentiates Interlace Health in the home-based care technology space and how can e-forms and e-signature solutions benefit all stakeholders?
Home health is becoming more and more integral to the care continuum, and we know a lot about the care continuum. We aren’t a tech business capitalizing on a growing market — we’re a health care company that knows how to help clinicians in the settings where they need it most.
This year, despite the growing demand and obvious advantages home health has to offer, home health must focus on building trust, because patients are accustomed to the familiar setting of hospitals. Creating a modern experience is key to overcoming this challenge, since relying on cumbersome paper documentation can erode trust, especially for those already skeptical of being treated outside of a hospital.
By introducing a modernized approach to home health, we can strengthen the trust between patients and clinicians from the initial interaction. Streamlining documentation and improving workflows are our specialties, and we believe these are key to enhancing the home health experience and making the greatest possible impact on provider organizations.
What is on the horizon for Interlace Health in 2024 and the years to come?
Looking ahead, our approach can be divided into three buckets: integration, expansion and modernization.
First, the term “integration” and “interoperability” are often used broadly, but for us, it means ensuring our software can seamlessly fit into any care setting without imposing new or additional processes on our clients. This requires our engineering team to focus intensely on making our solutions adaptable to any tools our customers use, emphasizing the importance of fitting into existing workflows effortlessly.
Next, our expansion efforts are targeted toward international markets, such as Canada, the UK and Australia, as well as exploring new care settings within the US, with a particular focus on home health. While “new” might seem misleading since many of our clients already operate successful home health services using our technology, we aim to deepen our understanding of this sector and enhance our service offerings.
Lastly, we’ve dedicated the past few years to revamping our technology and updating our existing solutions to a modern, cloud-based platform without immediate financial gain. This was a strategic move to better support our current customers and to position ourselves strongly in emerging markets. Now, in 2024, we’re beginning to reap the benefits of this investment. Our modern architecture and cloud-based solutions are being deployed more efficiently, offering a more agile and sophisticated approach to solving the same problems, and setting the stage for developing new capabilities that our previous system couldn’t accommodate.
Finish this sentence: “The home-based care industry in 2024 will be the year of…”
…advancements in innovation.
I think demand is going to continue to skyrocket and it’s going to vastly outpace supply in the coming years. Agencies, investors, technology providers like ourselves, consumers, the government — everybody’s going to need to work together to figure out a way to provide sustainable, accessible, safe and effective home care.
When I say innovation, I’m referring not only to technology, but also to innovations in recruiting, scheduling and staff support. It’s going to require all hands-on deck to allow people to heal in the place that’s most healing them, their homes.
Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
To learn more about how Interlace Health can partner with your organization, visit https://interlacehealth.com/markets-home-health/.
The Voices Series is a sponsored content program featuring leading executives discussing trends, topics and more shaping their industry in a question-and-answer format. For more information on Voices, please contact [email protected].
