Artificial intelligence is among the greatest technology advancements of the information age, with applications spanning every industry from automotive to manufacturing and retail. And while many individuals and businesses report they are skeptical about the use of AI, they also recognize the many merits it offers — many of which remain to be seen.
In fact, 64% of businesses say they expect AI to increase productivity, according to a 2023 Forbes Advisor survey, which the publication notes, “demonstrates the growing confidence in AI’s potential to transform business operations.”
Health care organizations in general and home-based care agencies in particular are no exception. While many involved in the delivery of care are cautious about the use of AI due to concerns about accuracy, data management and privacy, they also acknowledge it is changing home-based care in positive ways.
“Advancements in technology are a reason to be excited,” says Andrew Olowu, Axxess Chief Technology Officer. “When you think about AI, it’s going to bring about a lot of advancements.”
From time savings to reduced turnover and lower risk of patient hospitalizations, AI is already making inroads for home-based care operators and will continue to elevate the experience for care providers and care recipients, today’s health care technology experts say.
Time Saved for Staff
AI’s biggest value proposition is its ability to provide significant time savings, regardless of industry. Because it is able to process massive data sets in mere minutes or seconds, AI can save hours per week when it comes to processing information.
In Forbes’ 2024 Future of Professionals Report, survey respondents across legal, tax, and risk and compliance fields reported that they predict AI will free up 12 hours per week for them within the next five years. In the next year, they predict that figure will be four hours. According to the research, the four hours saved amounts to adding an additional staff member for every 10 existing employees — a future that could translate into back office roles and among clinicians doing administrative work in home-based care.
“AI is taking all the data that’s coming in and it’s putting it in the right place,” says Tammy Ross, Executive Vice President of Professional Services for Axxess. “Therefore, it’s reducing the screen time for the nurse and allowing them that bedside time… When you take away the documentation burden from the staff, you’re driving retention of nurses.”
Operationally, billing automation, scheduling optimization and remote monitoring are all made easier with the implementation of AI, Ross notes.
Scheduling Capabilities
Already, technology supports major advancements in scheduling of home-based care providers, with platforms like Axxess enabling real-time access to staff schedules with the ability to schedule and track visits in real time; schedule new visits; view upcoming visits; document missed visits and more. Axxess has long offered a scheduling solution, for example, that matches staff availability with competency and matches geolocations of caregivers and home-based care clients.
“It maximizes productivity and decreases [staff] frustration because they get to work when they want to work,” Ross says.
As scheduling platforms become even “smarter,” with the power of AI, they will learn about the preferences of patients and clients receiving care, as well as the optimal schedules for those providing the care. This is a significant shift for home-based care providers, for which scheduling is a leading indicator of turnover.
“Right now, nurses average 50 years and older in home care, and a larger percentage of those have reported on surveys across the industry that they’re contemplating retirement next year,” Ross says. “The reason they’re contemplating it is due to burnout, documentation burden, increased driving distances and lack of job satisfaction. I think AI can address all of these.”
Decision-Making Support
In addition to reviewing and summarizing data sets, the potential for AI in health care extends to decision making and optimizing outcomes for patients — perhaps among its most appealing benefits for care staff.
“AI doesn’t replace the nurse,” says Arlene Maxim, RN, HCS-C, Senior Vice President of Clinical Services for national technology innovator and software solutions provider Axxess. “It doesn’t replace our knowledge. But it does give us the opportunity to enhance our knowledge.”
The opportunity for predictive analytics to improve care outcomes is vast, with the use of predictive analytics in health care applying to many areas. As patient data sets grow, machine learning will become more important in detecting patterns and making recommendations accordingly.
“If we [utilize] AI, we might come up with some things that we haven’t even thought about to add to the care plan,” Maxim says. “For clinicians, retaining is one thing. But having these clinicians maintain their knowledge and update their knowledge as they go along and making sure that our patients have the best outcomes is where we need to be.”
The additional support is a welcome shift for caregivers and clinical staff, Ross says.
“I call it the nurse on your shoulder,” she says. “It is there to guide you so you’re not alone in the home [as a clinician]. When you get a lot of data, sometimes it’s data overload and that’s what happens to clinicians… they can miss things. But AI is not.”
In turn, this support lends itself to better, more appropriate care for patients and clients.
“A nurse that is in a hurry or who is new to home health can miss things that are going to impact the plan of care, like health literacy and social determinants of health. Taking that clinical decision and coupling it with prescriptive analytics, our software can then recommend the actions and interventions that are going to mitigate the patient risk for hospitalization.”
Axxess is a comprehensive platform built by home-based care experts to empower home health professionals in delivering quality care. To learn how Axxess is partnering with operators to help them make the greatest impact on all stakeholders through actionable data, visit https://www.axxess.com/home-health-software/.
