ChristianaCare Builds One of the First Alexa Skills in the U.S. Exclusively for Home Health Patients

ChristianaCare has announced one of the first HIPAA-eligible Alexa skills, compliant with health information privacy and designed exclusively for ChristianaCare HomeHealth. An established innovator and leader in digital health, ChristianaCare is pioneering voice care as an extension of home care services.

With the global home health care market size valued at over $281 billion and expected to grow over 60% by 2027, ChristianaCare is driving the transformation of care from the hospital into the home.

“We have a bold vision of the future: All care that can be digital will be digital, and all care that can be done in the home or in the community will be done in the home or in the community,” said ChristianaCare President and CEO Janice E. Nevin, M.D., MPH. “Engaging patients digitally is more important than ever right now, as it will help them reach their health goals, improve their experience, and shape the future of health care as we know it.”

Home Care Coach™ is a provider-driven, patient-customized, proactive care plan delivered through an Alexa Skill. The web application interface allows the provider to customize the patient’s care plan, using meaningful language for the patient. The patient can then ask Alexa questions about prescribed medicines, exercises and more, and get prompts personalized to meet their needs.

“Voice assistants are in millions of homes in the U.S.,” said Randy Gaboriault, chief digital and information officer at ChristianaCare. “By leveraging this technology, we are creating a new model of care within patients’ homes to support the best health outcomes possible.”

Built by the award-winning team of designers and developers within the Health & Technology Innovation Center at ChristianaCare, Home Care Coach™ acts as an extension of the home care team and helps to make care at home the standard.

“What makes Home Care Coach™ even more meaningful is the fact that it was designed by our caregivers at the front lines of ChristianaCare HomeHealth, working with patients – because no one understands their needs better,” said Ric Cuming, Ed.D., RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, ChristianaCare chief nurse executive and president of ChristianaCare HomeHealth.

Denise Woods, PT, COS-C, a clinical manager in ChristianaCare HomeHealth, earned top honors in ChristianaCare’s 2018 Innovation Challenge for her idea for a virtual assistant. Inspired by a patient, Woods saw an opportunity to reduce rehospitalizations with a virtual assistant’s reminders to patients to take their medications, exercise and perform other tasks to keep them healthy.

Home Care Coach™ is being launched now to select groups of ChristianaCare patients, with plans to expand the program in the months ahead.

Learn more about ChristianaCare HomeHealth or call 888-862-0001 for a referral.