In March 2017, Element Care began a quality improvement project utilizing 12 care.coach™ avatars to provide psychosocial support and health coaching in the home for high-risk older adults. Element Care was able to decrease evening and weekend companion and nursing visits, resulting in substantial savings. The avatar pilot proved effective in diverting unnecessary visits to the ER by utilizing assigned interventions, such as deep breathing exercises for anxiety, or by successfully alerting on-call staff to attend to participant needs. Participants in this study reported improved quality of life and decreased anxiety, nervousness and loneliness. After the favorable results of the pilot study, Element Care decided to utilize the avatar as an extension of its inter-disciplinary team. The ability of the avatar to coach an individual and simultaneously alert the team of issues in real-time has improved the quality of care. Participants feel well attended to and less anxious. As of February 2019, there were 40 avatars in the community with an actual cost-savings of more than $11,000 for the month. Element Care plans to continue the growth of the avatar program by offering one to all who will benefit from having one.
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