WellSky Launches Care Coordination Platform in Response to Coronavirus Crisis

The platform aims to make it easier for care managers to administer interventions, connect patients to local providers and relieve hospitals suffering from bed shortages due to COVID-19.

• By Haley Samsel
• Apr 01, 2020

In response to the growing COVID-19 crisis, HME software company WellSky has introduced a new analytics-based platform designed to help payers, health systems and post-acute care providers with care coordination.

WellSky Care Coordination will connect the company’s network of 10,000 in-home care agencies and 1 million nurses and caregivers to “implement coordinated care management programs that increase transparency,” improve patient outcomes and decrease the cost of care, according to a company news release.

The company hopes that the new platform will address hospital bed shortages across the U.S., particularly for non-coronavirus patients who would typically seek care from local hospitals.

“Home-based care models can reduce the burden on the healthcare system by freeing up hospital beds for severely ill patients and allowing those who are less critical to recover safely and comfortably in their homes,” Bill Miller, the CEO of WellSky, said in a statement.

Care managers can use the platform to administer interventions for particularly vulnerable patient populations, including those experiencing congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and non-COVID-19 pneumonia, among others. In addition, care managers can connect referred patients to local providers and receive notifications about changes in patient condition through the service.

Those managers will also potentially assist with providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms who live alone or lack family support, according to WellSky.

“With access to the nation’s largest network, health systems, payers, and ACOs [Accountable Care Organizations] can partner with WellSky as a single source for managing a national, in-home care network,“ Miller said. “By working together, we can leverage this network to alleviate some of the pressure the coronavirus is placing on our acute-care settings, while also keeping our most vulnerable populations safe and healthy.”