Becker's Hospital Review

41 INNOVATION BayCare to equip 2,500 hospital rooms with Amazon Alexa-powered platform: 6 details By Jackie Drees C learwater, Fla.-based BayCare Health Sys- tem is deploying Amazon Alexa devices in 2,500 rooms across its 14 hospitals. Six details: 1. Before implementing the tech systemwide, BayCare is piloting it at St. Joseph's Hospi- tal-North in Lutz, Fla. 2. e health system also deployed the devices at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa and Winter Haven (Fla.) Hospital in 2019 before rolling it out at St. Joseph's Hospital-North in late 2020. 3. BayCare anticipates having the tech in place across its entire system by the end of 2021. e devices can connect patients with their care team and control devices such as the TV via voice command. 4. BayCare uses a healthcare-specific platform called Aiva to manage patient requests, which are sent to the correct support person based on what a patient tells Aiva via an Alexa device in- stalled in their room. 5. Care team members then receive patients' re- quests on their BayCare iPhone, which is used specifically for these types of communications, according to BayCare Innovation Director Craig Anderson. "e patient can simply ask Alexa for things they need like a blanket or a glass of water," he said in the Jan. 5 news release. "Aiva interprets all those requests and sends it to right person. It is a seamless connection between the patient and their care team." 6. e Aiva tech using Alexa in BayCare's hos- pital rooms also lets patients play music and ask for the news, information, weather and sports updates. If a patient prefers not to use Alexa, they can mute the device. n UPMC innovation arm spins out data analytics company: 4 details By Jackie Drees P ittsburgh-based UPMC Enterprises, the innovation and commercializa- tion arm of UPMC, has incubated and launched a digital healthcare quality company that uses natural language processing and data an- alytics to improve value-based care. The announcement was made Feb. 4. Four details: 1. The company, dubbed Astrata, developed cloud-based natural language processing technologies that let payers analyze unstructured clinical data. 2. Astrata's technology helps payers get real-time insights to analyze quali- ty of care and population health against the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set measures, which both government and private health insurers use to align provider compensation. 3. Astrata teamed up with UPMC Health Plan to create and validate its technology, which lets users monitor data and determine their quality rates year-round. "Over the last two years, UPMC Health Plan abstractors found they can work up to 38 times faster with the implementation of Astrata's NLP-assisted tools," UPMC Health Plan President and CEO Diane Holder, said in a Feb. 4 news release. "This partnership facilitates a more rapid and accurate flow of thorough, meaningful data between our quality team and our providers." 4. In addition to improving HEDIS operations, Astrata is piloting a real-time natural language processing monitoring platform with UPMC and UPMC Health Plan. The platform will focus first on a HEDIS measure that pinpoints older women with bone fractures who have not received appropriate imag- ing and intervention for osteoporosis. n CVS Health launches voice-powered home care monitoring platform: 4 things to know By Iain Carlos C VS Health has launched a medical alert system designed to protect seniors living at home, the company said Jan. 14. Here's what you should know about the system, called Symphony: 1. It's a suite of in-home and wearable sensors that monitors for falls, motion and room temperature and provides 24/7 personal emergency response when needed. 2. It features a voice-activated hub that lets seniors make hand-free calls with caregivers or emergency responders. 3. It features an app for caregivers that provides emergency alerts. 4. Symphony comes in two bundles, the more expensive of which comes with motion sensors and a voice-activated fall censor for the bathroom. n

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