The RISE Association and CareSignal, a remote patient monitoring company, have partnered to offer a public service webinar on Friday, March 27 about COVID Companion, a free COVID-19 texting program for providers and plans to offer to their patients.
The coronavirus is dominating headlines and consumers are often overwhelmed by the latest news and developments. That’s why it’s more important than ever for health plans and providers to cut through the noise and provide authoritative information that members and patients can rely on.
Members and patients need to have information from a trusted source. Those sources are health plans that provide them coverage and a provider organization where they receive their routine health care. That’s where COVID Companion comes in.
The text message-based program helps Medicare Advantage plans and providers connect patients with local public health resources and share CDC recommendations for health literacy, preparedness, and disease management. It was designed by CareSignal, a scalable remote patient monitoring platform that improves payer and provider performance in value-based care by engaging and identifying rising-risk patients before they worsen. In less than 12 hours, CareSignal can customize the texting program and educational materials with your organization’s name and logo.
To reduce the burden on overwhelmed health care facilities, CareSignal is offering COVID Companion for free to any U.S.-based health system or payer. Learn how to offer and use this free tool during a live one-hour webinar sponsored by the RISE Association and CareSignal at 1:30 p.m. EST on Friday, March 27.
The RISE Association is offering the webinar to help support health plans and provider organizations in their efforts to quickly adapt to conditions and communicate immediately with their members/patients.
The program provides daily tips to educate the patient on CDC guidelines for prevention, disease management, and offers instructions for what to do if a patient becomes sick. Further, it provides local public health department contact information. Designed to be the fastest program to rollout, the program allows providers and plans to add their name and logo to the texting tool and patient educational flyers in order to deploy the same day.
“It is a privilege to bring a powerful, easily implementable tool to the organizations keeping our country safe and healthy," said Blake Marggraff, CEO, chief executive officer and founder of CareSignal, who will speak during the webinar. "COVID Companion provides key education and resources for patients, but also provides providers with the knowledge that their patients will know how to care for themselves while at home. I am deeply proud to offer this program for free to the country's health leaders."
In addition to tips and resource information, the program allows payers and providers to share important guidance regarding what to do if a patient's condition worsens in specific ways (e.g., difficulty breathing). The program also offers instructions for patients who want to know what to do if they become sick. In case a patient does not have a doctor, COVID Companion provides contact information for local public health resources.
The program allows payers and providers to send daily tips with links to specific, up-to-date CDC recommendations, to educate patients on steps for prevention, disease management, and other important topics for which the CDC provides guidance. Key topics include:
- Important education and resources for at-risk populations
- Important education if health conditions worsen (e.g., breathing becomes difficult)
- Checklists for household preparation
- Key facts about COVID, including corrections of some common misconceptions
- Preventive measures for the patient and household
- Specific tips for cleaning and disinfecting
- Precautions and instructions to prevent spread if a person is sick
- Tips for pregnant women and people with children
- Tips for communicating with employers
- Tips to support mental health and notes of encouragement
The webinar, COVID Companion Gets the Authoritative Word Out to Patients, will take place at 1:30 p.m. EST, Friday, March 27. Click here for more information and to register.