Doug Duskin, CEO, Avel eCare
COVID has shown us that telemedicine is effective and easy to use. But why limit the use of virtual care to public health emergencies? With providers and clinicians under increasing strain from staffing gaps and other issues, telemedicine is a valuable solution. Telemedicine has been a crucial tool in the fight against COVID-19 , allowing patients and providers to stay connected even when quarantine rules keep them physically separated. During the first phase of the pandemic, both patients and providers embraced remote care, prompting an incredible spike in utilization – approximately 63 times pre-pandemic baseline levels among Medicare patients,  new CMS data reveals . While  telemedicine  use has leveled off somewhat since early 2020, it’s still seeing sustained interest from across the care continuum. CHIME’s annual Most Wired survey  found only a modest drop in utilization since the pandemic peak. Ambulatory, long-term care, and acute care providers reported that 26 percent of their patients used telemedicine in 2021 compared to 32 percent in 2020. This ongoing participation in telemedicine is excellent news for pandemic-weary healthcare organizations that are overwhelmed with increasing patient demands while facing workforce shortages in most clinical areas. The stress and exhaustion the pandemic has caused in the medical workforce has led to an acceleration of resignations. Approximately 20 percent of healthcare providers have quit their jobs over the course of the pandemic, said Dr. Victor Dzau, president of the National Academy of Medicine, during  a recent U.S. News and World Report webinar . This is a troubling trend that must be reversed. Fortunately, we already have the tools at hand to address the problem. Telemedicine is the key to helping us do more with less – without sacrificing care quality, patient safety, or  shared patient-provider satisfaction . For example, the National Emergency Tele-Critical Care Network is  helping to maximize emergency response resources  in Florida. When homebound COVID patients need Regeneron monoclonal antibodies, EMS workers on-site deliver the treatment. Then, qualified clinicians use telemedicine to provide remote monitoring for the recommended 60 minutes of observation, allowing EMS staff on the ground to move on to their next call quickly. Acute care providers can also take advantage of remote clinicians to shore up overloaded staff. In one small, rural community hospital, virtual clinicians stepped in to deliver critical care consulting for staff members unfamiliar with treating a large number of patients on ventilators. With insight from remote colleagues, the clinicians on-site could attend to other patients seeking acute care services without being stretched too thin. In the long-term care setting, telemedicine can offer a crucial bridge between seniors and providers for everyday care. Primrose Retirement Communities, which operates facilities in 17 states,  is leveraging telemedicine  to avoid hospital transports for its medically fragile residents. Immediate, 24-hour care from remote geriatric-trained clinicians significantly relieves pressure on Primrose’s clinical staff, allowing nurses and other on-site professionals to provide high-quality care to all the patients in their charge. We cannot predict when the pandemic will end, and we certainly cannot count on an influx of tens of thousands of fresh new healthcare providers any time soon. Instead, we must use the technologies and strategies at our disposal to create a healthcare environment that is resilient, adaptable, and patient-centered. We must be flexible and creative with forging new relationships and data-driven connections to support our essential medical workforce. Telemedicine is the proven solution for doing more with less – it is a workforce multiplier that helps relieve the burden on the doctors, nurses, and clinicians at the bedside. If we embrace telemedicine’s potential for closing staffing gaps and expanding care access during and after the pandemic, we will be better prepared to build a strong and effective healthcare system that can withstand the growing pressures of the future. About Doug Duskin
Doug Duskin  is the CEO of  Avel eCare , a national leader in delivering telemedicine services to more than 600 facilities spread across 32 states. Duskin most recently served as President of Equality Health’s Technology Division, where he focused on enabling payer and provider collaboration to improve care for members in conjunction with value-based care contracts. During his leadership tenure, the Technology Division transformed its operations to align with a product strategy aimed at driving growth and improving customer satisfaction and profitability. Equality Health partnered with General Atlantic in February 2021 to recapitalize the business.

Leveraging Telemedicine as a Workforce Multiplier for Clinicians

Partnership provides Primrose facilities nationwide with 24/7 access to Avel eCare's innovative telemedicine services to enhance care for residents and help reduce burnout among staff
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Feb. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --  Avel eCare's footprint continues to grow nationwide following the recent expansion of its strategic partnership with Primrose Retirement Communities. From piloting an initial program in a select few locations, Avel has since integrated its telemedicine services in more than two-thirds of Primrose's assisted living and memory care communities across multiple states. These services enable Primrose nurses, local primary care providers (PCPs), and other Primrose staff members to leverage a wide range of Avel eCare's telemedicine experts to support the daily care of residents. "By expanding this partnership with Avel, Primrose is better able to focus on supporting our staff, decreasing unnecessary transfers, and keep a laser-focus on quality outcomes," said Dedi Wood, RN, Primrose Executive Director of Nursing. "It can be traumatic for seniors, especially those experiencing memory loss, to have to take a trip to the hospital or doctor's office. The Avel eCare team not only enables us to handle more complex medical conditions on-site they also help our nurses and PCPs by alleviating stress and burnout. It has been a great relief to have Avel's support, particularly in the current pandemic environment." Avel eCare's service provides immediate, around-the-clock access to a team of geriatric-trained clinicians – including physicians, providers, nurses, and more - who understand the unique needs of residents in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. With a brief call, local staff can connect to the eCare team via a secure, two-way video mobile unit to:
Conduct on-site fall assessments
And more
"Avel eCare helps our staff navigate through a variety of issues seniors face. We call on their experts daily to speed access to care and provide timely treatments that improve the quality of life for residents. This collaboration has also helped minimize burnout by closing gaps of coverage so that our nurses, PCPs, and other clinical staff don't have to be on call all hours of the night and weekends," said Primrose Executive Director Crystalee Keahey in Midland, MI. As this partnership expands, so too does the utilization. During December alone, Primrose staff engaged Avel's services in 214 encounters, with nearly 100% of all encounters resulting in the resident being treated in place. These interactions varied in nature, from diagnostic test review to addressing traumas or falls, and Avel was there to assist Primrose care teams every step of the way. "Primrose Retirement Communities is an excellent example of a forward-looking organization that understands the pivotal role telemedicine plays in senior care," Dave Darr, Business Development Director, Senior Care at Avel eCare. "We are proud to partner with the Primrose team to help fill unmet needs through our cutting-edge services and empower local staff to do what they do best: deliver excellent bedside care. This collaborative effort demonstrates how the future of care is happening right now." About Primrose Retirement Communities
Primrose Retirement Communities  was founded in 1989 based on the premise that a retirement community must reward its residents with value, comfort, security, and convenience. They operate 32 locations in 17 states. About Avel eCare
Avel eCare  offers the largest and most comprehensive virtual health networks in the world, partnering with more than 450 health care systems, rural hospitals, outpatient clinics, long-term care facilities, schools, and correctional facilities across the country. Media Contact:

10:51 ET
Primrose Retirement Communities Expands Partnership with Avel eCare to Provide 24/7 Access to Telemedicine for Seniors

Senior living leader with more than 30 locations in 17 states taps Medallia to better understand its complete community experience. November 30, 2021 08:30 AM Eastern Standard Time
SAN FRANCISCO--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- Medallia, Inc. , the global leader in customer and employee experience and engagement, today announced that Primrose Retirement Communities selected Medallia as the resident and employee experience platform of choice. Medallia will help Primrose address the changing expectations from residents entering senior living, their families, and the demands of employees who care for them. “Today’s senior living industry is undergoing transformational change. Seniors are healthier, more affluent and looking forward to a longer, more active life. They also have very high expectations about the level of experience they receive,” said Dylan Kessler, Director of Operations at Primrose Retirement Communities. “And with ongoing labor challenges, it’s even harder for communities to keep up with those rising expectations. With Medallia, we can gather feedback from every interaction we have with our residents and employees to help provide a more holistic experience.”
With Medallia’s ability to seamlessly integrate with other technology, Primrose can leverage a unified platform to capture continual feedback from residents, family members, and employees and combine that with data ingested from other systems. Using AI-driven insights , Primrose will be able to act quickly to improve the experience of their residents. “We have a huge responsibility to our residents to provide the best place for them to live, a responsibility to their families to ensure they have peace of mind knowing their loved ones are cared for, and a responsibility to our employees to provide the best working environment,” Kessler added. “We can only do that if we're effectively understanding the experiences of our entire community. Medallia provides a solution to not only capture, but understand the data about the experiences our residents and staff are having every day. Armed with this data, we can make changes to ensure the best possible outcomes for everyone.”
Beyond software, the Medallia partnership includes a dedicated client services team responsible for strategic consulting to help Primrose adapt the program to meet its needs and drive business results. Clients have access to experts from similar industries like hospitality and healthcare , where Medalllia’s customer-centric approach to collecting, analyzing, and distributing feedback aligns with the experience senior care communities aim to deliver. “As a leader in the senior care space, Primrose understands they can improve outcomes, differentiate themselves, and grow their business by delivering better resident and employee experiences,” said Toni Land, Head of Healthcare Experience, Medallia. “We’re proud to partner with them on this journey.”
For more information on Medallia solutions, please visit https://www.medallia.com/ . About Primrose Retirement Communities
Primrose Retirement Communities, LLC, headquartered in Aberdeen, South Dakota, provides high-quality independent living, assisted living, and memory care communities across the country which specialize in personalized services and resident-focused care. The mission of Primrose Retirement Communities is to create happy and healthy living environments for seniors. Since the opening of the first community in Aberdeen in 1991, Primrose now has more than 30 locations in 17 states. About Medallia
Medallia is the pioneer and market leader in customer, employee, citizen and patient experience. The company’s award-winning SaaS platform, Medallia Experience Cloud, is becoming the experience system of record that makes all other applications customer and employee aware. The platform captures billions of experience signals across interactions including all voice, video, digital, IoT, social media and corporate messaging tools. Medallia uses proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to automatically reveal predictive insights that drive powerful business actions and outcomes. Medallia customers reduce churn, turn detractors into promoters and buyers, create in-the-moment cross-sell and up-sell opportunities and drive revenue-impacting business decisions, providing clear and potent returns on investment. For more information visit www.medallia.com . © 2021 Medallia, Inc. All rights reserved. Medallia®, the Medallia logo, and the names and marks associated with Medallia’s products are trademarks of Medallia. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Contacts

Primrose Retirement Communities Invests in Data-Driven Solutions to Help Improve Resident and Employee Experience

Avel eCare is a virtual care provider that partners with health care systems, rural hospitals, outpatient clinics, long-term care facilities, assisted livings, and schools across the country.

Avel eCare

`` By expanding this partnership with Avel eCare , Primrose Retirement Communities is better able to focus on supporting our staff , decreasing unnecessary transfers , and keep a laser-focus on quality outcomes , '' said Dedi Wood , RN , Primrose Retirement Communities Executive Director of Nursing .

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Primrose Retirement Communities operates independent and assisted living retirement communities throughout the United States.

Name	Work History	Title	Status
Jim Thares		Founder, Chief Executive Officer	Current
BJ Schaefbauer		President	Current

Name	Jim Thares	BJ Schaefbauer
Work History
Title	Founder, Chief Executive Officer	President
Status	Current	Current

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