Essence Group, a provider of IoT-based advanced telecare solutions for seniors, have announced that their care@home technology will be installed in makeshift “Corona-Hotels” across the Netherlands.
The move will free Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds by providing a safe location for patients to recover from symptoms that do not require ongoing treatment, helping to take the strain off essential services in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Care@Home platform enables family members and professional care providers to remotely monitor individuals, keeping them safe and taking pressure off essential services without the need for potentially invasive cameras.
Working with strategic partner FocusCura, the leading provider of senior independent care solutions in the Netherlands, the technology has already been installed in three hotels in the Brabant region of the country with more to come.
This comes at a time when healthcare services are increasingly coming under pressure. The Corona-Hotels are crucial to freeing up ICU beds and off-loading the huge pressure suffered by hospitals at this time. Patients are quarantined in hotel rooms and monitored using superb remote monitoring technology. Similar emergency wards have been set up in hotels in Israel, Ireland and the UK.
The Corona-Hotels take in those who are well enough to be discharged but still exhibiting symptoms, as well people with positive infection cases with minor or no symptoms who are rerouted to Corona Hotels instead of hospitals.
Essence SmartCare, a key company within the Essence Group, provides advanced, AI and voice based unique remote monitoring solutions for seniors. The Care@Home aging-in-place platform allows carers to use technology to keep their customers safe and healthy, particularly during this challenging period. The complete solution includes sophisticated, activity monitoring, wearable and non-wearable fall detection as well as voice capabilities that allow residents to call for assistance and talk to their carers directly when needed.
The technology is being installed in Corona-Hotels to help healthcare professionals remotely monitor patients in a non-obtrusive way, securing the facility within hours. The tech is helping to stem the spread of the virus by allowing medical staff to provide care remotely, (found here).
Dr Haim Amir, CEO of Essence Group, says: “ICU beds are the key commodity in the fight against COVID-19. The Corona-Hotels make a huge difference in taking the pressure off hospitals, which in turn is helping save lives. By offering remote monitoring methods, our technology keeps people safe and enables patients to get the care they need outside of ICU. Technology has an essential role to play in the fight against COVID-19, and I am proud our technology can be a part of that.”
“Working with our strategic partners FocusCura in the Netherlands, we have been able to roll this technology out with extreme pace and efficiency,” Dr Amir adds. “I’m continually impressed by the professionalism and devotion of our team to the Essence mission of creating a better life made possible, especially through this challenging time. The team have absorbed the extra demand for our services in line with the needs of the population, and I’m especially proud of how our technology is being implemented around the world to protect the elderly population and those affected by COVID-19.”
Raoul Zaal, CEO of FocusCura, comments: “We are pleased to be part of these valued initiatives. The past weeks we have equipped several ‘Corona-Hotels’ with connected technology in a matter of days. And after this first phase we can conclude that remote monitoring technology has the capability to keep healthcare workers safe and take pressure off essential services. It has been a pleasure for us to play a part in the fightback against COVID-19.
“Working with Essence SmartCare, we have installed monitoring technology in numerous Corona-Hotels across the Netherlands. Their technology gives healthcare workers the ability to monitor and service COVID-19 patients who have been discharged from hospital or taken from their homes to relieve pressure on homecare, remotely and safely, avoiding touchpoints and, hence, the risk of infection. We hope initiatives such as this will help save lives,” Zaal concludes.
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