PHOENIX – Show organizers capped off last month’s Medtrade West with the New Product Pavilion Providers’ Choice Awards, sponsored by HomeCare Magazine. The myCAIRE telehealth solution from CAIRE earned the Providers’ Choice Silver Award, with attendees responding favorably to its ease of use, breadth of information, and ability to manage service requests.
“Conversations at Medtrade West were primarily educational in terms of discussing features and benefits, as well as the distinct advantage of the system being compatible with all our leading stationary and portable concentrators,” says Barry Hassett, vice president, Global Marketing. “Common questions related to availability of the system and the ability to use it with equipment already in their fleets.”
CAIRE Inc., Ball Ground, Ga. is a pioneer of the portable oxygen concentrator and covers the continuum of care for oxygen patients. The U.S. launch of the next-generation telehealth solution – myCAIRE—made a splash at Medtrade West, earning votes among visitors to the New Product Pavilion.
Designed to increase the efficiency of administering delivery and improve patient care, the application connects to CAIRE’s concentrators via the patient’s smart device and simplifies remote data collection through a secure, cloud-based technology in real-time — easily accessible via the medical equipment provider’s desktop.
“It was important to us to have a telehealth solution that connected to CAIRE’s premier oxygen concentrators in the portable, transportable and stationary categories – the full spectrum of oxygen care for patients,” said Earl Lawson, president and CEO. “Because of this, CAIRE is the only oxygen manufacturer that offers its provider partners a holistic approach to serving the complex healthcare needs of oxygen users during activity or when they are at home.”
The myCAIRE application is available through Android, iOS and Surface platforms, and the portal provides customizable views, filtering and search options to view oxygen usage, flow rates, device notifications, equipment location, and requests sent directly from patients to the provider through the app.
The timing of the launch supports the needs of providers who administer care to oxygen patients with respiratory conditions like COPD, but also the growth in the population of users who have been prescribed oxygen as a therapeutic component to their recovery from the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.
The development of telehealth solutions received a giant push during the pandemic according to global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, who estimates the market size up to $250 billion. They predict the shift to these platforms will continue to evolve with step-change improvements that impact a variety of providers ultimately resulting in better patient care and outcomes.
“We see the use of telehealth as it applies to oxygen therapy equipment to only expand as adoption increases and access opens up,” said Hassett. “This remote visibility to patient data allows the provider to engage with those patients who require more frequent touchpoints in their case management through personal contact and educational resources – the end result is improved care for patients.”
In developing this next-generation telehealth solution, the CAIRE team prioritized improvements in functionality and useability while listening to the voice of customers – medical equipment providers who needed something that would help them remotely review data and troubleshoot devices efficiently during a time of increased oxygen demand in the treatment of COVID-19.
“Streamlining oxygen patient management can assist in easing up on an already stretched bandwidth for our providers and their teams,” Hassett added.
myCAIRE can connect wirelessly to the FreeStyle Comfort portable oxygen concentrator, the Eclipse 5 transportable oxygen concentrator, and the Companion 5 stationary oxygen concentrator. Most newly-prescribed oxygen users utilize a portable or transportable oxygen device to maintain their targeted saturation rate during their daily activities, and an at-home oxygen source – a stationary oxygen concentrator for when they are inside the home – particularly for use while they are at rest.
myCAIRE setup is quick, and users will find the free application easy to use with features allowing them to view settings and notifications, share access with a caregiver, request service from their provider, and access the device user manual. The Medtrade West launch of myCAIRE will be followed by a global launch throughout the year.