GAIL members TAKING ACTION AND CHANGING LIVES
A digital health technology leader and GAIL member is making history as we speak with their recently announced eBrief intelligent incontinence monitoring system pilot and let me tell you, it is making a splash…
etectRx, creators of the proprietary sensor technology platform, eBurst, are debuting an additional use case for their digital health technology. eBurst’s sensor technology was first applied to the company’s FDA-cleared ID-Cap™ System, developed to remotely monitor medication adherence. Since its debut, ID-Cap™ has surpassed over 12,000+ ingestions and has already been awarded a considerable amount in funding. What started as a quest to track medication ingestions, has blossomed into a convergence of use cases with one thing in common: a need for timely, accurate information that can be used to improve patient outcomes.
The eBurst sensor technology platform has opened a revolutionary use within long term care as the baseline platform for their eBrief intelligent incontinence monitoring system, a smart brief that can alert caregivers when the care recipient is in need of a brief change to avoid dangerous consequences of overexposure of skin to human waste.
Being a subject matter expert on senior care and incontinence, I am beyond excited to know that a pilot has finally begun in the real world and is showing promising results so far.
Incontinence has long been ignored but it remains an underlying cause of so many chronic conditions. Most action plans only scratch the surface of causative factors for wounds, infections and falls for older adults and those chronically ill. In fact, for skilled nursing facilities, incontinence is listed in approximately 33% of the CMS clinical pathways for compliance and quality of care. This means it has been sitting in plain sight just waiting for the opportunity to be identified.
While all industries in the senior services industry are struggling with staffing shortages, unobtainable regulatory changes, and impossible work/life balance; solutions such as eBrief are going to revolutionize the industry and could just be a saving grace for many if not all.
How? Well, when eBrief came about, it was quickly picked up by a large senior living provider for a pilot and word spread quickly on how well the technology can be used to reduce burden and provide invaluable benefits along with smart incontinence management. The technology is simple, easy to install, easy to manage, and powerful with its possibilities of data. Not only is it a real-time care aide informing caregivers when their care recipient experiences a wetness event, but it also provides robust data into the frequency of voids, patterns of voiding to monitor for abnormalities and gives an advantage to those care teams trying to avoid adverse events and the cycle of chronic condition dominoes.
More and more interest in solving the woes with incontinence are now making headlines and it is no secret that if you can identify and mitigate the root cause for so many conditions, it can provide relief for frontline staff, peace of mind for families, and better bottom lines for operators.
As it turns out, when exploring this type of solution, many organizations already charge level of care fees or extensive care fees to cover the higher needs residents in Assisted Living or Memory Care so the technology that etectRx is using and the process in which they are going about using it is very cost effective and completely achievable without taking on excessive expenses. In fact, in certain circumstances, it can help providers diversify their revenue streams. The company is also exploring financing models to help spread initial hardware costs out to keep this solution affordable so that widespread adoption will be possible to start helping older adults immediately and across the globe effectively. etectRx is a major contributing member of the GAIL, so please stay tuned for their upcoming case study from the pilot for their eBrief solution.
In other news, but related, I will be announcing the GAIL’s first subject series of articles in Feb 2024, titled “Addressing the Void”. The “Void” is a lack of attention that has been shown to incontinence in the healthcare industry and too long shrugged off as a natural part of aging. As a Certified Gerontologist, I have a passion for showing that incontinence, and it's vast impact, cannot be ignored as it is such a large and shared challenge among older adults that is long overdue for innovation. Way to go etectRx!
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