The Mercy team has had its one-year anniversary of utilizing the m.Care® platform to follow pediatric patients with complex care needs. Mercy’s Virtual Care Team keeps in close communication with the parents and guardians in the homes. They have found that the communication with the parents through in-app, HIPAA-compliant text messaging has been most helpful in remotely managing the patients and is integral to receiving and distributing information related to real-time information regarding patient condition and Coordination of Care. Preliminary outcomes have demonstrated reductions in Emergency Department visits, an initial uptick followed by a decrease in Outpatient costs, and high satisfaction of guardians, as reported in surveys completed within the m.Care® app.

The team intends to add Asthma care to the pediatric population being monitored on the m.Care® app. They anticipate monitoring 500-800 Asthmatic patients utilizing the app. App features that are likely to be utilized to monitor Asthmatic patients include measurements (with Peak Flow reporting available), Education, Surveys, and various Communication applets.

The Mercy team also intends to allow the Chaplains to use the m.Care® app to point remote patients and families to Spiritual Services, both via live stream and by providing a library of past services.