Middletown-based MediTelecare, which provides behavioral telehealth and tele-technology services to residents of long-term care facilities, on Tuesday announced a new product to ease the transition from a facility to home.
The new program uses MediTelecare’s MediTely app, launched earlier this year. The app is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store and is designed for older adults who may be using virtual health services for the first time.
“Care coordinators” are available through the app 24/7 to assist patients in accessing telehealth services via any mobile device. The new program allows patients to quickly access behavioral health services virtually from home, providing stable care and preventing unnecessary hospital visits, the company said in a statement.
MediTelecare’s Chief Psychology Officer Dr. Sherie Friedrich said: “As a patient awaits discharge to home from a care facility, they face gaps in care – most troubling of which are behavioral health services… We’re proud to offer transition of care via our MediTely app, which provides patients with a clear pathway back into the community.”
Skilled nursing centers may discharge 10-15% of their patients home each month, according to MediTelecare, raising the risk of disruptions in health care due to transportation and communication challenges.
CEO Ed Mercadante said: “With the launch of the transition of care program, we’re excited to partner with more providers across the U.S. and to expand the reach of our behavioral telehealth services,” Mercadante said.
MediTelecare’s customers include hundreds of facilities in 21 states with more than 45,000 residents.
Due to pandemic-spurred demand, MediTelecare is growing at an organic rate of 10% to 15% a month, month over month, and revenues grew over 80% in 2020, Mercadante told the Hartford Business Journal.
Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.
