Forcura’s tools for home health agencies include a web-based workflow application focused on handling discharge referrals (whether for in-home care or facilities); tools for getting physician signatures; and a mobile care platform with secure messaging, documentation, wound measurement and live video recording, all integrated with third party electronic health records. Mandeville, who founded the company in 2012, is on the board of the National Association of Home Care & Hospice.
HomeCare: How is COVID-19 affecting your business?
Mandeville: It’s been very busy but very seamless. We have a lot of prospective customers who were in the pipeline—we’ve brought on the majority of them in the last two weeks. We also have a few tech features, such as one that allows for live video conferencing in the home, and that’s been huge.
HC: What do you think everything that’s going on right now will mean for home health care?
Mandeville: I think health care at home is now front and center, and it’s hit everyone square in the nose with a global pandemic, where elective surgeries have been brought to a halt and they’re scouring for beds in the hospital. People need to be at home, it’s the safest and most efficient place for care. Not only are we seeing a massive influx of interest and business uptick, but I predict because of this, technology innovation and adoption is not just a “want” anymore to drive a little bit of efficiency. This is absolutely a 100% need. And we’re in a really good spot to help our industry; that’s our passion.
HC: Do you come from a technology background or a health care background?
Mandeville: I’ve always been in tech, I went to the University of Texas, I’m from Austin. I’m an entrepreneur and this is the second successful tech company that I started. My wife ran discharge planning here in Jacksonville, discharging from the Mayo Clinic to post-acute settings. That’s where the idea is from. These patients were flying in from all over the world to get the best care, and their information wasn’t being sent out consistently or quickly. I thought, “How can we get this information to the right hands in real time so clinicians can make good decisions?”
HC: There’s obviously a lot changing in the regulatory and legislative scene. What are you looking out for in particular?
Mandeville: There’s a lot of discussion about the next phase of incentive package to post-acute care, especially to home health and hospice. I think we’re looking for a more clear definition of what we do if we can’t send someone into the home and we don’t have remote telemonitoring set up. We really need a telephone call to be paid for as a visit. CMS is worried about fraud, and that makes sense … but if we put some big restrictions on it, I’m hoping for the best.
HC: Are we at a watershed moment right now when it comes to the future of homecare?
Mandeville: My hope is that this is our moment to shine. Home health is here and we’re here to stay in a big big way. And with this overpopulation of hospital beds and how the country is dealing with this today, I think it’s going to be a big wakeup call for how we think about what to do if and when this happens again and how we can mobilize the home for testing. There needs to be a robust debriefing on how the globe responded to this and really writing up a good strategic plan for the next time that this happens. To keep this contagion down you need isolation and what better place to isolate yourself than in your home?
