Female caregiver looks at her phone

A Family Service Society of Yonkers caregiver uses the CareConnect screening system.

When New York shut down in March of 2020, home care providers scrambled to continue providing care while meeting the regulatory COVID-19 screening required by the Department of Health, and continuing staff education and training.

To meet screening requirements and provide a virtual curriculum, the nonprofit home care agency Family Service Society of Yonkers looked to CareConnect. The organization’s success with the CareConnect platform has earned it a Gold Award in the Quality category in the Home Care track of the 2021 McKnight’s Excellence in Technology Awards.

In March, administrator Bernadtte Renwick received an offer from CareConnect to implement its screening system and decided to onboard the platform. By April, all home care aides were screening themselves via CareConnect.

How it works? Users receive daily reminder texts from CareConnect that prompt them to answer questions about their signs and symptoms.

“The system is very user-friendly — green means go, red means call your manager and don’t go into work,” Renwick told Mcknight’s Home Care Daily Pulse.

With automated screening reminders, aides are able to notify their administrators about their signs and symptoms before visiting patients’ homes, therefore reducing the possibility of exposure.

Family Service Society of Yonkers also was able to continue to offer training to staff through CareConnect. The platform is still in use today.

“It seems to be working well, and I don’t see us reverting back to what we were doing before,” said Renwick. 

The organization’s full transition to virtual e-learning and implementation of self-screening demonstrate how technology can help transform traditional methods within healthcare agencies to continue to offer best care practices.

Other Quality awards in the Home Care track:

The Silver Award winner in the Quality category in the Home Care track was Rappahannock Westminster Canterbury in Irvington. The organization used Birdsong engagement technology, an easy-to-use electronic tablet system that engages and entertains residents to battle loneliness and isolation.

For more on the 2021 McKnight’s Tech Awards winners, visit here.