My colleagues and I recently attended the Home Care and Hospice Conference and Expo (NAHC 2019) in Seattle, WA. Although this was my second time personally attending the conference, our company has exhibited at NAHC for many years.

And, this year was particularly special for us.

At the event, we unveiled our new brand – Clear Arch Health, which is a division of MobileHelp®. Although we had a soft launch in September, NAHC was the perfect place for connecting with attendees, specifically home health and hospice agencies, we had spoken with at prior conferences or who were just being introduced to our brand.

In 2006, MobileHelp was started to provide protection and safety in and away from the home through mobile Personal Emergency Response Systems (mPERS). Then in 2016, recognizing an opportunity to expand further into healthcare and to help more people, for example through our Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) services, the MobileHelp Healthcare Division was formed. However, we soon realized the name was not as descriptive as it once was. So, we rebranded to Clear Arch Health to align with our expanded product and service offerings.

We chose the “Arch” because it symbolizes strength (keeping patients healthy), connectivity (an arch connects two points and so do we – clinicians to patients and family to their loved ones), and a gateway (to manage one’s health). We chose “Clear” because it represents how we conduct business – we pride ourselves on being transparent in our interactions from clear terms to relationship management.

More about the conference – our takeaways:

We have enjoyed seeing how the industry landscape has changed. And, year after year, this event has helped shape meaningful discussions as organizations prioritize and prepare for 2020 and the future of healthcare.

But what did we learn?

We left the conference with quite a few takeaways.

As expected, the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) was the hottest topic at the conference. The changes, which go into effect January 1, 2020 – just a little more than two months away – will have a huge impact on home health agencies, most notably around reimbursement and operations. It is crucial that agencies are proactive and prepared for these changes.

Aside from being ready for the PDGM, regulatory changes related to finance, compliance and quality – and how it is documented – were also top priorities.

Innovations in all aspects of business were addressed throughout the sessions. As healthcare costs continue to rise, aging populations continue to grow, and chronic conditions become increasingly prevalent, there is one thing that remains constant: the need for innovative solutions to allow people to age in place (something we know very well).

In fact, we had several people stopping by our booth post-session to learn more about our solutions – not only around emergency response, but also about RPM. I found this interesting, because when I attended NAHC in 2018, primary interest, as it related to our offerings, was in emergency response. However, this year’s attendees showed a keen interest in our RPM offering.

This may be related to the PDGM changes or to the value RPM is bringing to the industry. Next year, home health organizations will be under increased pressure to deliver better results, at a lower cost. RPM is expected to save $200 billion in healthcare costs globally and represents one promising component to help achieve this. For any organizations looking at utilizing a virtual care strategy, especially in 2020, it is a good time to consider an RPM program.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth – we truly enjoyed meeting you and look forward to keeping in touch and seeing you at the 2020 event (my third NAHC) in Tampa, FL.