The race to move health care into the home is on, and a growing number of major retailers are officially in the running. In just about a week’s time, news broke that Walmart (NYSE: WMT), Amazon (NYSE: AMZN) and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) are all separately making moves in the space. As the federal government […]
Amazon
Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) has launched a new virtual care clinic, which will give employees access to telehealth and in-home care, according to CNBC. While public details are relatively sparse, the move potentially sets Amazon up for a broader expansion down the road. The goal of the pilot program — called Amazon Care — is to […]
Between 2016 and 2026, at-home care providers in the U.S. will need to find a projected 2.9 million more home health aides and personal care aides to keep up with skyrocketing demand, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Doing so won’t be easy, as many — if not most — providers already face severe […]
It’s no secret that home-based care providers are struggling when it comes to recruiting and retaining employees. In 2018, turnover in the home care industry hit an all-time high of 82%, while home health saw an average turnover rate of about 21.23%. Some factors contributing to the problem — such as the tight labor market […]
At least 22 states and localities are increasing minimum wages on July 1. At the same time, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on whether to raise the federal minimum wage to $15, more than double the current rate of $7.25. While many people are celebrating the pay hikes as a victory for […]
U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) plan to introduce new legislation to make assistive technology more accessible to seniors and people with disabilities. The goal is to make it easier for people to age in place. “Survey after survey indicates that seniors envision themselves living independently at home in their own community […]
Already in millions of homes across the United States through its cable and internet services, telecommunications giant Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is developing a new in-home health monitoring device capable of detecting falls — and potentially preventing hospital readmissions. While details are scarce at this point, the device is purposefully built with at-home health care in […]
Earlier this year, Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) made waves when it rolled out new software that makes its Alexa device HIPAA-compliant. The new skills kit allows select patients and health care organizations to securely transmit sensitive medical information — often from the comfort of one’s own home. While the implications of the skills have the home-based […]
Amazon’s Alexa now boasts HIPAA-compliant skills, a development that could create new opportunities for home-based care companies and the senior clients they serve. Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) launched Alexa’s secure medical skill kit Thursday. Through the new kit, select entities are allowed to build Alexa skills that securely send and receive protected patient health information. So […]
In addition to packages, the United Parcel Service (UPS) (NYSE: UPS) will soon deliver home-based health care. The world’s largest package delivery firm plans to test a dispatch service in which it will send home health nurses to provide in-home vaccines to U.S.-based adults, UPS representatives confirmed in an email to Home Health Care News. […]