Home care in the city of Kuopio phased in latest 9Solutions safety service solution technology during spring 2017.
Home care manager Kaija Kokkonen from the city of Kuopio says that the purpose of intelligent safety solutions is to support aging people living at home. At the same time, the goal is to save costs with technological solutions, by reducing the need to make unnecessary check visits to customers, for example. The solution delivered to home care in the city of Kuopio includes safety wristband, care phone and also intelligent exit management, when necessary. Pressing the call button on the safety wristband opens a voice connection to the call centre through the care phone. The connection can also be opened with the care phone.
Intelligent exit management eliminates unnecessary alarms
Intelligent exit management notifies the call centre if the resident has left home and hasn’t returned within a specified time. The device knows if the resident has remained inside or gone out after opening the door. This reduces unnecessary alarms and brings significant savings in home care. The need for check visits decreases when the 9Solutions intelligent exit sensor, for example, detects exiting more accurately than a traditional door monitor, or when video connection or sensors can be used for checking the situation in the customer’s home.
– With the care phone, the customer can contact the city-operated call centre, where a nurse makes an assessment of the customer’s situation. If necessary, the nurse dispatches a helper or an emergency unit. The number of expensive ambulance visits has decreased considerably, because in the new system the nurse sees the customer’s health information and when home care has visited the customer and when the next home care visit is due, for example. This generates a better view of the customer’s situation, says Kokkonen.
The number of expensive ambulance visits has decreased considerably, because in the new system the nurse sees the customer’s health information and when home care has visited the customer and when the next home care visit is due, for example. This generates a better view of the customer’s situation.
Integral part of overall home care service
According to Kaija Kokkonen, integrating situation assessments and follow-up actions in safety alarms closely to the customer’s overall home care service is an essential improvement. Receiving safety alarms is part of the social and health service call centre, where challenging situations in safety alarms can be assessed cooperatively by a nurse, social worker on duty or emergency care field management. The call centre can also provide quick doctor consultations in emergency situations.
Apart from care phones, the service delivered to the home care of Kuopio includes also the 9Solutions Smooth background system and Smooth Lite mobile application for managing the delivery chain of care phones from order to installation. This makes care phone deliveries to customers significantly easier and more efficient.
Open and easily integrated solution
The background system of the delivered solution monitors the operation of safety wristbands and care phones continuously through a data connection. It notifies if everything is not in order in the system – if there is a fault in a safety wristband, a battery is depleting, a power cord has become disconnected or a care phone is not available due to a network problem, for example.
Kaija Kokkonen tells that they are satisfied in Kuopio with the solution delivered by 9Solutions. Kokkonen also commends that when problems have occurred, they have been solved promptly.
– What’s particularly good in the delivered solution is that it’s open, easy to integrate and communicates fluently with our other system. Unfortunately we’re in a constant struggle with problems caused by closed systems, she comments.
Who?
Kaija Kokkonen has worked in managerial positions in elderly services for 15 years and she has also researched elderly service management in the University of Eastern Finland. Currently Kaija is working as chief of home care in the city of Kuopio, responsible for care service production, including home care for the elderly, support and housing services as well as daytime activities. Kaija has contributed actively to home care development and participated in preparing the renewal of home care safety services in Kuopio.
