What's New with Connect...

Improving Communication with Referral Sources and Family

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:04:00 -0500

Improving Communication with Referral Sources and Family:

Written By: RecoveryView.com Date: January 8th, 2012. Topic: Member Profile Article.

When your loved one is in a treatment center, getting clean and working toward his or her recovery, it is likely you are riding an emotional roller coaster. No doubt years of hurt, frustration and worry have led to the need for rehabilitation, so most family members are emotionally spent by this point anyway. So a certain amount of relief comes when you know your loved one is in trained and capable hands. Unfortunately, it is here that things tend to go awry. It is very common for family members to have a very difficult time connecting with the therapists or doctors caring for their family members, leaving them to wonder how they are faring and what it might be like for everyone upon discharge.

This is the scenario Craig Gordon encountered when his oldest son, Chris, became addicted to drugs in his teens. After several trips to the hospital for drug-related issues, Gordon knew he had to find his son a treatment center. With limited resources at his disposal, he found a center in Utah – a significant distance from their Phoenix home. Chris stayed a total of 10 months, and in that time, Gordon made the 12-hour roundtrip drive twice a month to meet with Chris’ treatment team and stay abreast of his progress. Sheer frustration about the lack of communication while he was home in Phoenix fueled this trek of love.

Once out of treatment, Chris thrived for a solid year. However, unbeknownst to Gordon and their family, Chris remained involved in drugs, eventually overdosing and dying in 2006. Shortly thereafter, Gordon went to his childhood home in Columbus, Ohio, to surround himself with his family and lifelong friends. It was then that he reconnected with Neil Moore, a friend since 1964.

Moore had worked for 24 years in health care on the Information Technology side of things, most recently in senior health care. “The communication families received from providers was poor to non-existent,” Moore recalls. “My personal experience with this was so unfulfilling that I thought, ‘I can fix this by using what I know’”.

Moore created the company’s first product, Connect for Healthcare™ with a very simple premise: To be a portal between family members and inpatient and outpatient treatment providers for status updates that are distributed to everyone simultaneously, via email or text. Initially, the system was directed toward senior health care, connecting families to their loved ones in nursing homes and the like.

When the childhood friends reconnected, it became clear that their respective experiences aligned their desires to improve the way inpatient facilities currently communicate. When Gordon came on to do business development, he had a strong desire to expand to serve drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities as well.

“Immediately after we began to delve into the addictions field, we had met with many consultants, who all thought we had a great idea, but needed to focus on communication with referral sources who don’t know what happened to the people they referred to treatment centers,” Gordon explained. “So we see our primary value now as not only informing the families about their family member’s status, but also keeping the referral sources up to date on the status of the referee.”

Connect for Healthcare for Behavioral Health™ makes the process as simple and user-friendly as possible. “Once you tap into the service, it is all automatic,” Gordon states. Treatment providers can customize the status criteria for each patient. To complete an update, they simply click on a spectrum of progress and add comments. The service automatically notifies the referral source and approved family members (as appropriate) that a new status update is available on the patient’s highly secure Web page. The entire process usually takes no more than five minutes, making it painless for the treatment provider and invaluable to those receiving the updates.

“Some providers also use the system as an easy way to organize all their patients and monitor their progress at a glance,” Gordon states. Though the circumstances that brought Connect for Healthcare™ to behavioral health are heartbreaking and frustrating, it is this very personal association that drives it forward, potentially saving other families from the same experience.

For a limited time, the company is offering a no-risk trial of the service to qualifying treatment centers. To learn more about Connect for Healthcare for Behavioral Health™, visit, www.connect4healthcare.com, or contact them directly at 480.251.8124, or craig@connect4healthcare.com.

What could Connect do for you this year? See what our satisfied...

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:47:00 -0500

What could Connect do for you this year?

See what our satisfied client’s are saying…

“When I talk about it during prospect tours, families are almost stunned. They see our community really does keep you informed about your loved one and has the service in place to do just that.” Sandy D. Community Marketing Director

“The first day we offered the service we closed 2 new clients who had already interviewed several other agencies. They chose us because we had Connect.” Lisa B., Home Care Franchise Owner

“Connect isn’t the only reason prospects choose our community but it is definitely one of the reasons.” Neil E., Community Relations Director

“Families are very excited when they hear about the service. It’s a wonderful tool and very easy to use. It fit right into our existing operational process and is a great service for the families of our patients.” Shirley N., Rehab. Dept. Manager

“It’s very user friendly and has been highly successful in my facility. Families have busy lives and this helps us keep in contact with them. It’s just so easy to use…” Mary H., Life Enrichment Director

“What is the result? We are communicating more, more efficiently and more effectively using today’s technologies. Our families love receiving regular, proactive updates, we like the value it brings to our clients and our staff loves it.” Lori S., General Manager

Happy Holidays from all of us at Connect for Healthcare.

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:29:34 -0500

Happy Holidays from all of us at Connect for Healthcare.

“Every Day We Make a Difference” music video that...

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:55:14 -0500

“Every Day We Make a Difference” music video that was premiered at the 2010 ALFA Conference & Expo.

Thank You Caregivers!

This...

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:04:10 -0500

This Thanksgiving…

Joy…
Happiness…
Health…

All these and many more are our wishes for you!

New Service Launched For Aging Seniors And Their Families To Address Growing Problem.

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:35:00 -0400

PRESS RELEASE - COLUMBUS, OHIO, SAN FRANCISCO and PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA

As the national trend of seniors staying in their homes longer (aging-in-place) continues, a new danger has emerged. At its root lies the fact that neither the seniors nor their families have the knowledge or experience necessary to recognize when the senior’s declining condition is putting them in danger. Too often that recognition comes only after they suffer serious injury.

To address this growing problem, a first of its kind service, Senior Watch Calling™, has been introduced by Connect 4 Healthcare™, in cooperation with ComForcare Senior Services of San Francisco and Palm Springs.

The service represents a new and much needed addition to the care options available to seniors and their families by combining brief, frequent personal telephone checks performed by senior care professionals with regular in-home, safety and health assessments. After each call and home visit, a status updates is posted to the client’s private web page and senior-approved family members and related health professionals are automatically notified by email and text message that they are available for immediate review.

Craig Gordon, Director of Business Development for Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC said, “The combination of frequent and ongoing professional assessments and the use of current technologies to keep both the family and related health professionals up-to-date, promises to improve the safety of those seniors that receive the service. Of particular importance in today’s economic environment, the service is a fraction of the cost of either traditional in-home or residential care.”

“I’ve been involved in Senior Care for more than 25 years”, said Lisa Marie Blaskie RN, BSN, CCM and owner of the ComForcare agencies. “With more seniors choosing to age-in-place Senior Watch Calling™ bridges a very real, very dangerous gap in the current care continuum. “The signs of a decline in health and ability that put seniors at real risk of accident or injury are sometimes too subtle to be recognized by the untrained observer. Other times they are obvious but ignored because their family don’t want to face the fact that their loved one needs help. Or more often the warning signs are missed and they wait too long to act and something bad happens. Senior Watch Calling™ is the perfect solution.”

About Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC
Founded in 2008 with offices in Columbus, Ohio and Phoenix, Arizona Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC creates solutions designed to use now-common Internet and cellular network-based communication technologies to regularly and proactively address the family’s need to stay informed about the well-being of their loved one(s) receiving residential or home care, regardless of their available time or location, throughout what is often a very difficult and lengthy period of care. To learn more about the Connect for Healthcare™ service visit www.connect4healthcare.com or email info@connect4healthcare.com.

About ComForcare Home Care Services of San Francisco and Palm Springs-Riverside County, CA
ComForcare provides a wide range of private duty aging services for the elderly in the above locations. These services include activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, medication management and other requested related services. ComForcare provides services that differentiate us from any other agency in our service area including Connect for Healthcare™ and the newly launched Senior Watch Calling™ service. ComForcare is RN owned and managed.To learn more about ComForCare Services visit: sanfrancisco.comforcare.com or email sanfransico@comforcare.com.

Contact:
Senior Watch Calling™
Lisa Marie Blaskie
655 Montgomery Street, Suite 540
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone: 888-603-2945
Email: info@seniorwatchcalling.com
Web: www.seniorwatchcalling.com

Connect to attend National Conference on Addiction Disorders

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:00:00 -0400

Connect to attend National Conference on Addiction Disorders:

National Conference on Addiction Disorders
September 17-21, 2011 Town & Country Hotel | San Diego, California

Connect for Behavioral Health™ will be in San Diego, Sept 17th at this premier conference showcasing new ideas and innovations in the fields of recovery and prevention.

With over 900 registrants from 50 states during its first year in 2010, The National Conference on Addiction Disorders (NCAD) combines the power of NAADAC, NAATP, INCASE and NALGAP with the audience of Addiction Professional and Behavioral Healthcare magazines.

NCAD, formed by combining SECAD with the annual NAADAC Conference, is the premier conference showcasing new ideas and innovations in the fields of recovery and prevention, as well as addressing treatment, administration, finance, technology, and medical issues.

Introducing yet another application of the Connect for...

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 22:30:00 -0400

Introducing yet another application of the Connect for Healthcare communication web solution…for the Rehabilitation Services Industry.

Long-term care software firm scores first international customer

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 01:47:00 -0400

Long-term care software firm scores first international customer:

MedCity News-7.11.11 / Brandon Glenn

A health IT start up that creates software to connect medical providers at long-term care facilities with patients’ family members has recently signed its first international client.

Aside from the new business, the customer brought another benefit to Columbus, Ohio-based Connect for Healthcare. Because the client is based in Canada and requires a French-language version of the software, Connect for Healthcare was forced to tweak its technology to enable it to be customized for multiple foreign languages. That could help open new geographic markets for the two-and-a-half-year-old company.

“The deal does two important things for us,” said Neil Moore, Connect for Healthcare’s CEO. “We now have a footprint in Canada with a market leader in that country. And, as a result of the requirement that our service become multilingual, it opens a global door for us.” Moore said the company has had “a number of” inquiries from international customers, but couldn’t help them because “language was always an issue.”

Connect for Healthcare completed its first implementation for the Canadian client, Residences Allegro, in March and expects to be live in 42 locations throughout the country by the end of the month. Residences Allegro bills itself as the largest network of private retirement homes in Quebec and the third-largest in Canada. The company’s subscription-based service allows for status updates via email, text message or the Web to an unlimited number of family members or friends. The updates feature “wellness metrics” (Is Mom eating? Sleeping? Walking?) that can be customized to reflect specific questions or concerns of family members.

Connect for Healthcare’s value proposition to providers is that its service increases patient and family satisfaction, saves staff time from having to field phone calls from family members and creates better and more frequent documentation.

In addition to selling to nursing homes and hospices, Connect for Healthcare has broken into one new market — adult day care — and is looking to add clients in another — behavioral health centers, such as those that provide counseling to substance abusers. The company recently signed a deal with Unity Health System in Rochester, New York, to provide its service to six adult day care centers, Moore said.

For the behavioral health market, the company’s software could be effective in providing patient status updates to the medical providers that referred patients to a facility, Moore said. He sees the behavioral health market holding potential of up to $50 million and said Connect for Healthcare received positive feedback at a recent meeting of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers.

Like most startups, Connect for Healthcare could use a sales and marketing boost to grow revenue. The company is seeking a $500,000 investment for that reason. “It’s all about making things go bigger and faster,” Moore said.

Contact Info:
info@connect4healthcare.com
614-256-4454

Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC announces adoption of their Connect for Healthcare™ care-provider communication service by Unity Health System’s Adult Day program.

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:10:00 -0400

Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC announces adoption of their Connect for Healthcare™ care-provider communication service by Unity Health System’s Adult Day program.:

Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC announced today that they have signed an agreement with Unity Health System of Rochester New York whereby the health system will implement the Connect for Healthcare™ service in all six of their adult day locations. “Unity’s Adult Day programs had more than 43,000 visits last year. We are especially pleased to be working with such an experienced and dedicated team on the introduction of our service into Adult Day Services environment.” said Neil Moore Founder and CEO of Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC.

Unity Center for Aging offers a full range of adult day services in six convenient locations. Adult day services provide a caring, supportive, and therapeutic environment for people who need care or supervision during daytime hours. Unity Health System offers programs for people with all levels of health care needs, from the very frail to those who simply need the fun and stimulation of socializing with peers in a supportive environment.

Three weeks ago we introduced our Connect for Behavioral Health...

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:31:00 -0400

Three weeks ago we introduced our Connect for Behavioral Health service at the 2011 NAATP Conference and I’m very happy to say that the feedback we received from the attendees was great. The consensus of those who had the chance to see the service was that Connect offers the simplest, most efficient and organized way they had ever seen to deliver secure, regular updates to referral sources (and families as appropriate).

We invite you to contact us today at 480-251-8124 to schedule a live web demonstration of the Connect service and discover how easy it can be to dramatically improve your communication.

Craig Gordon
Director of Business Development
Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC
480-251-8124
craig@connect4healthcare.com

NAATP Attendees Speak Out On Communication.

Mon, 23 May 2011 23:48:00 -0400

First, we’d like to thank the many amazingly dedicated people we had the opportunity to meet at the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) 2011 Conference, which represents nearly 275 not-for-profit and for-profit providers (free standing and hospital based programs, which offer a full continuum of care from outpatient, partial hospitalization and inpatient rehabilitation regimes), conference for their personal commitment to helping others fight for their freedom from addiction. As first-time attendees we left enlightened, inspired and humbled by their sense of “mission”.

Not surprisingly, communication with referral sources and families was the topic of conversation at the Connect for Behavioral Health™ booth. Here’s what the many attendees we spoke with had to say about it:

1) Individuals and programs are more inclined to refer to centers/programs that give them regular, proactive status updates on their referred clients/patients and are equally inclined not to give repeat referrals to those that don’t.

2) Whether the program is large, medium or small… regional or national in scope – regular, proactive updates to referral sources on the status of the referred patient/client are “infrequent at best”. Even updates a referral sources specifically request are too often long in coming (if they ever come at all).
What does “infrequent at best” mean? One very prominent organization candidly told us about a recent meeting with a group of their key referral sources. Otherwise happy, those sources described referring clients to them as “like sending them into a Black Hole”…

Even when they are appropriate, regular - proactive family updates are even rarer.

3) Programs believe that giving referral sources regular status updates is very important for their business and the patient/client but admit that it’s so time consuming (30-45min per call) it is too often ignored unless and until the referral source complains loudly or something “bad” happens.

4) Though giving regular updates to referrers is time consuming – not doing it is usually even more time consuming. We were told (several times) that the typical scenario goes like this:

· Hearing nothing, the referral source calls or sends an email asking for an update (sometimes repeatedly) but doesn’t get a response

· They then call the marketer to complain

· The marketer then spends the time they’re supposed to be using to market the program trying to smooth things over with the referrer and bugging the treatment coordinator or therapist to contact the referrer with an update

· The TC or therapist is too busy to have a 30-45min call right now so they put it off and eventually forget

· Still not getting an update, the referral source (now more upset) calls the marketer again and the cycle continues until the TC or therapist calls the referrer and has the 30-45min call or the referrer simply gives up in frustration

Clearly, communicating with referral sources and families is important for your business and your patients/clients and today there is at least one innovative solution purpose-built to help you do that securely, easily and efficiently.

We’d like to thank the many attendees who shared their time, insights and encouragement with us at the conference.

If you weren’t able to attend the conference and would like to see the Connect for Behavioral Health™ service we’ll be happy to coordinate a personal web demo for you and your staff. You can reach us at info@connect4healthcare.com

New Web Service Increases Communication for Schools and Programs

Tue, 10 May 2011 23:22:00 -0400

New Web Service Increases Communication for Schools and Programs :

Woodbury Reports, Inc. was founded in November 1989, by Lon Woodbury, MA, IECA, CEP, as an Independent Educational Consulting firm to help parents of teens making poor decisions select a private, parent choice program that would help return the family to normalcy.

In 1995, StrugglingTeens.com went online as the original website for information about the many schools and programs available for troubled teens.

New web service for addiction treatment providers promises to improve recovery outcomes by improving communication with referral sources and families

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:15:00 -0400

New web service for addiction treatment providers promises to improve recovery outcomes by improving communication with referral sources and families:

(Free-Press-Release.com) April 28, 2011 —
Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC will officially launch their newest service, Connect for Healthcare for Behavioral Health™, at the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP), 2011 Conference on May 14 in Chandler Arizona.

Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC. will officially launch their newest web service into the Behavioral Health market with Connect for Healthcare for Behavioral Health™

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:01:00 -0400

Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC. will officially launch their newest web service into the Behavioral Health market with Connect for Healthcare for Behavioral Health™ at the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP,) 2011 Conference on May 14.

The newest Connect service provides a secure, highly efficient and easy-to-use web-based solution for Addiction Treatment Facilities and Related Professionals to communicate with referral sources and families that is completely customized to the center and the patient.

Email craig@connect4healthcare.com to learn more and receive an early-adopter discount for signing up before May 14, 2011.

Connect for Healthcare for Behavioral Health™ Flyer

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 01:43:00 -0400

Connect for Healthcare for Behavioral Health™ Flyer

Introducing Connect for Healthcare for Behavioral Health™

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:33:00 -0400

Introducing Connect for Healthcare for Behavioral Health™:

Discharge from your center isn’t the end of their treatment… it’s a new beginning.

A secure^*, highly efficient and easy to use solution for communicating with your referral sources and families that is completely customized to your center and your patient…

Behavioral Health Providers

Drive new and repeat referrals, reduce staff time on the phone and improve outcomes through a custom communication solution that allows you to quickly, easily, regularly and securely^* keep referring professionals and approved family members engaged and informed.

Referring Professionals

You know from experience that discharge from the treatment center isn’t the end of their treatment, it’s a new beginning. Getting regular, secure^* updates from the center throughout their stay enables you to plan and deliver the most effective follow-on therapy and gives your patient the best opportunity for a positive, long-term outcome.

Families

Through what is one of the the most stressful, frightening experiences in any family’s life, receiving regular, secure^* updates from their treatment center not only brings comfort, it prepares you to more effectively support their recovery once they come home.

* With our proprietary ConnectPrivacyPlus™ 12-point approach to information security, treatment centers have an unprecedented ability to control access to the information they need to share to ensure the best possible outcomes. Only Connect gives them this kind of control over what, how and with whom sensitive information is shared.

Nearly 7 million people now receive long-term care services nationwide, according to a new report from LeadingAge (formerly the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:25:00 -0500

There are 16,100 certified nursing homes in the United States.

There are 39,500 assisted living facilities in the United States.

There are more than 1.7 million nursing home residents in the United States.

There are more than 1.1 million seniors in some type of senior housing community in the United States.

More than 150,000 individuals receive care and services at an adult day center.

By 2020, 12 million older Americans will need long-term services and supports.

Among people turning 65 today, 69 percent will need some form of long-term services and supports over the remainder of their life, whether in the community or in a residential care facility.

http://www.aahsa.org/facts/

New Assisted Living Home Flyer (Arizona)

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 01:31:00 -0500

New Assisted Living Home Flyer (Arizona)

Connect for Healthcare™ New Provider Brochure

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 23:45:00 -0500

Connect for Healthcare™ New Provider Brochure

What's New with Connect...

Improving Communication with Referral Sources and Family

What could Connect do for you this year? See what our satisfied...

Happy Holidays from all of us at Connect for Healthcare.

“Every Day We Make a Difference”﻿ music video that...

This...

New Service Launched For Aging Seniors And Their Families To Address Growing Problem.

Connect to attend National Conference on Addiction Disorders

Introducing yet another application of the Connect for...

Long-term care software firm scores first international customer

Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC announces adoption of their Connect for Healthcare™ care-provider communication service by Unity Health System’s Adult Day program.

Three weeks ago we introduced our Connect for Behavioral Health...

NAATP Attendees Speak Out On Communication.

New Web Service Increases Communication for Schools and Programs

New web service for addiction treatment providers promises to improve recovery outcomes by improving communication with referral sources and families

Connect 4 Healthcare, LLC. will officially launch their newest web service into the Behavioral Health market with Connect for Healthcare for Behavioral Health™

Connect for Healthcare for Behavioral Health™ Flyer

Introducing Connect for Healthcare for Behavioral Health™

Discharge from your center isn’t the end of their treatment… it’s a new beginning.

Behavioral Health Providers

Referring Professionals

Families

Nearly 7 million people now receive long-term care services nationwide, according to a new report from LeadingAge (formerly the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging

New Assisted Living Home Flyer (Arizona)

Connect for Healthcare™ New Provider Brochure

“Every Day We Make a Difference” music video that...