Care group capitalizes on in-home patient monitoring trend
LONDON: The pandemic is driving more care into the home and forcing homebound patients to become more adept at using technology. That has been a winning combination for Moorestown, NJ-based Cosan Group. The six-year-old company provides remote patient monitoring, chronic care management and behavioral health integration technologies to 200 physician practices and 700 providers in the U.S.
Cosan Group acts as a backup to clinicians delivering care in the home and works with patients navigating the technology in helping them receive that care.
“If they think the patient needs lab work or a chest X-ray, they send that securely to the coordinator on our end,” Desiree Martin, Cosan Group director of clinical services, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily. “The coordinator schedules the lab work or schedules an appointment. Whatever the patient needs, our coordinators do that remotely for them.”
The remote patient monitoring industry is valued at $956 million and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of nearly 20% until 2028, according to Grand View Research. Chronic conditions account for approximately 90% of U.S. healthcare spending. Analysts say remote monitoring can go a long way in decreasing emergency department visits and hospital admissions among patients suffering from chronic conditions, including heart disease and renal failure.
Martin said primary care physicians, cardiologists and pulmonologists make up the bulk of Cosan Group’s business, but the company also works closely with many home healthcare agencies. The company provides patients with tablets or an app they can download on their own devices. The technology allows Cosan Group to monitor patients. It also allows patients to conduct telehealth visits and keep track of their appointments.
“If they have an issue and can’t get the device to work, they can contact us and we’ll walk them through it,” Martin said. “We also leverage home health workers as our voice in the room to walk the patient through since they are physically in the house with them.”
Martin said an AI tool the company rolled out late last summer is quickly becoming one of Cosan Group’s most successful offerings. “Eleanor” is a virtual assistant who calls patients weekly, carries on conversations that can last up to 45 minutes and sends alerts about possible dangers.
“We had a patient who mentioned suicide several times on the call,” Martin explained. “She ended up having a 20-minute conversation with Eleanor. Eleanor flagged her. It was after the practice closed, so we were able to get in touch with the physician. She had just been in the hospital and he was able to call her and de-escalate that immediately.”
