Startup Idea: Healthcare Tracking Software for Caregivers
I am a caregiver for my 101 year old mother and have been for 10 years or so. In the last 12 months I have had to hire two people to help me. In addition, we have a team of hospice workers who come in three times a week (including aides and nurses). We work in shifts and keep everything handwritten on pieces of paper to track daily activities. The hospice workers come in three times a week (that's a total of six visits) and ask whomever is present to report (last bowel movement, last blood glucose, last blood pressure, any pain, any new sores, etc). Until 6 weeks ago I was the only one who controlled the medications given to my mother. That has changed as more people come on board. The basic issue here is that we are in a private home (mine) with a large and growing team of people caring for one person. Working as a real "team" is difficult unless people share information (write it down on the paper, which 2 of us do) and others read the papers (which all of us do). And then there are the hospice overseers, asking us to report things.
Let me just say, in case you don't know, that hospice is not what it used to be. My mother is not really dying anytime soon. She has a good quality of life because I am committed to providing it to her. Although I am aware that I am an unusual person, my mother has been in an assisted living facility that could really benefit from this kind of software as well. Everything they did was on paper and NO ONE read any notes so mistakes were constant. I always thought a PHYSICAL DISPLAY board in each residents room would help workers immensely as it would not only display, but correlate and build info charts.
Back to my problem: We (the three shifts -- me and two hired workers) all use our phone alarms and timers to help us remember when to give meds, or give eyedrops, or feed my mother her meals or snacks, etc. However, confusion comes when someone doesn't record something or someone forgets to actually give meds or set their timers, etc.
I have often thought of athletic game scoreboards and how they keep track of things during play. I would definitely buy software that would allow me to keep track of these various deliveries (medicine, eye drops, food, snacks) and values (blood glucose, temperature, blood pressure) etc, IF AND ONLY IF it could be displayed clearly both on daily charts and in a comprehensive history (say of one month to track trends, moving to a separate and larger history chart after 30 days). I'm thinking if I just buy a dedicated computer for values/timing input into the software, there could be the computer screen or a larger networked "scoreboard" on the wall so the team of people caring for my mother would have useful information at a glance or with a few keystrokes. Also, people could record info into a computer (we are all addicted to that, aren't we?) instead of writing it down on pieces of paper.
While the software could have "trigger values" to highlight bad temps, bad glucose levels, bad carb levels on food, or whatever, that isn't as important as being able to build a background database of my mother's health situation from daily inputs of her condition. And, believe me, WE TRACK EVERYTHING, EVERY DAY, 24/7.
Plus, if such a thing existed, we could have multiple patients, because my husband would track his intake of supplements, meds, and blood pressure, etc. I could do the same thing. The software would be useful to us as well as to the team caring for my mother. Yes, I have looked at the play store apps. I can't find anything I want. I have looked for diabetic charting and there are some things out there, but they are overly complex and on a small screen. I have looked at fitness apps, which let your record calories and foods, but my mother doesn't walk much and those apps are focused on weight loss. I have searched "diabetes," "elder care," "fitness," "food recording" and a bunch of other stuff. The real problem I find with apps is they want to TEACH me something. I don't need to be TAUGHT anything about my mother's health problems for a variety of reasons, including that I have professionals helping me care for her and a 24/7 hotline to nurses and doctors. I need help charting all this stuff in a larger, visible display area that can be in my mother's room and used by all those working towards keeping her healthy. There might be professional medical software like this, but I haven't seen any commercially available in-home stuff like this. Anyway, that's my problem. Hope it helps you or gives you an idea of something to build.