Ep.5: How AI Technology is Helping Agencies to Identify Risks and Improve Client Care

Melissa Mendez: (00:10)
Welcome to vision. My name is Melissa Mendez, and today we are discussing how AI technology can aid agencies and recognition of cognitive changes and provides supplemental care for the aging population amid caregiver shortages. Our guest today is Miki Rossanis from Sensi AI. Sensi AI Provides home care agencies with actionable fact based insights to monitor clients living in their home through an AI based solution, giving agencies the opportunity to enhance the quality of care for their clients and better management of caregivers working in the field. So welcome Miki, bit about Sensi AI and what your role looks like.

Miki Rossanis: (00:56)
So firstly, thank you so much for having me. It’s really great to be here and to have this discussion with you. So as you described, uh, since the AI is the world’s first virtual care assistant and it provides a technology based through artificial intelligence, towards home care agencies to provide them with real time analytics into what is happening within the homes of their clients. Um, and it does this using audio based artificial intelligence, and this is all of the datas and use to really help them to guide the best care plans for their seniors, for their clients. Um, based on the real time real life needs there of the clients themselves. Um, and my role within the company is head of clinical development. So I’m bringing my experience as an occupational therapist to this world of technology. So I’m combining these two worlds, um, and really bringing them with, um, that experience, the skills, the understanding of their elderly, um, and really applying that throughout our technology, both from the research and development side of things and also for the go to market strategy. Um, so this is a really quite an interesting and unique position to be able to combine the two worlds of tech and healthcare. Um, and it’s really quite an exciting product to be a part of.

Melissa Mendez: (02:27)
Yes, it is. Um, we had talked earlier and I, I asked a lot of questions cuz I think AI and I think, you know, robot. Um, so I, I think it’s really neat what you guys are doing and I’m excited to see it develop more and see more agencies really take part in it. Can you tell us how does this type of AI technology function within a home care agency and, and what type of data does it provide an agency?

Miki Rossanis: (02:55)
Sure. So sensei helps to supplement the home care agencies, uh, using this artificial intelligence information and it uses audio based data, um, through the artificial intelligence to pick up on times where there may be difficulty or where there is an, an understanding of the person’s health or wellbeing. Um, whether it is if the person is expressing pain or if it is, if the person is expressing some level of cognitive difficulty, um, and it uses the data that is coming up based on the person’s health, their wellbeing, the quality of care that they’re receiving. Um, and it helps the agencies by summarizing that data, um, onto a dashboard. Uh, it helps the agencies to provide them with that, um, analysis into the person’s wellbeing and their, uh, health needs. Um, and this is then used by the home care agencies to really, uh, provide, um, that insightful and holistic and comprehensive way of knowing what do they need to be providing to their end to the end client, to their clients themselves. Um, and it does this in a number of different ways. So there are lots of different things that essentially can pick up on. Um, and it is all really towards providing that, that, uh, holistic, um, care towards the, the client.

Melissa Mendez: (04:27)
Perfect. I think it’s, it’s again, we’ve said it it’s, it’s unique, um, and, and much needed. Um, how can this technology improve outcomes, client outcomes specifically such as readmission rates falls and you have an example, um, of how an agency has used it to improve their care programs.

Miki Rossanis: (04:49)
Yeah, so, like I said, um, it, this, the system itself is picking up on lots of different things, um, around the person’s health, their wellbeing. Um, and it’s also providing a summary of that towards their home care agencies through the dashboard. Um, and it is summarizing that all for them. Um, and some of the things that’s helping to do is really using this preventative approach towards the person’s wellbeing. So rather than, you know, dealing with a situation because it’s already happened, it’s really focused on being able to, through the analysis of the person’s health, being able to deal with certain situations that may arise prior to, to an event happening. So for, for example, to that, obviously a really important aspect of, um, of, you know, aging is the fact that they’re, they are at a higher risk of falling and having falls in their own homes.

Miki Rossanis: (05:53)
And, um, we don’t always know why they happen or what has led to certain falls that happen. And there’s a lot of technologies that really revolve around being able to detect those fold from happening. And since it can definitely help within that falls detection piece as well. Uh, but something that we’re really very passionate about is detecting on the risks that are associated with the falls that could be happening prior to them happening, whether that is that the person is getting up multiple times during the night. And there’s a really high level of nighttime activity, which we know is a time of the day where there are a lot of falls that may happen, or if it is that the person is talking about a lot of pain that that’s impacting on their ability to mobilize and function within their home. Um, whether it is certain activities where there are more difficulties with those.

Miki Rossanis: (06:46)
Um, so being able to understand these things prior to further deterioration or decline functionally, uh, really gives the home care agencies and family members, the ability to deal with those prior to the event. So managing the risks and mitigating those risks prior to possible, um, you know, if possible fall then happening. Um, that being said like, like I mentioned, you know, sensei can also help with the detection of falls. Um, and there has been, you know, multiple, um, occasions where sensei has helped to alert and alarm home care agencies and family members that fall has happened, um, in order to then deal with that, you know, very quickly. One of the things that does also happen when someone has a fall is that if they’re not able to get the help that they need immediately and they are, you know, unable to get up from that fall, it is a really high, you know, a high risk for them being able to then go into hospital because of that.

Miki Rossanis: (07:55)
So by being able to manage and deal with the event of a situation like that, as quickly as possible also gives them, you know, a lower risk of then, um, having to be admitted to hospital. Um, so yeah, this is just a number of ways that we’re really helping to mitigate risks and manage, uh, those possible difficulties that may arise. Um, and there, there are multiple other ways, you know, so for example, we’ve also got, um, a client who was expressing that, um, you know, once, once the caregivers came to see her first thing in the morning, um, she was often quite distressed and quite, um, you know, resistant to wanting to accept any, um, physical care of the caregivers who were coming to see her. And they were coming in about eight o’clock in the morning and they weren’t really sure, and they couldn’t really pinpoint what was happening for her and why this was happening and why she was so resistant to the care.

Miki Rossanis: (08:59)
And, um, it was obviously causing quite a lot of issues with them feeling like they weren’t able to care for her and also her not being cared for in the way that she needed to be. Um, and having sense these insights into her, into her environment. And what’s been happening for her, uh, really helps her shine a light on the fact that she was actually waking up quite early in the morning, um, around five o’clock in the morning, very distressed, not able to mobilize and get herself in and out of bed. She was actually having, you know, incontinence and, and accidents in her bed. And sh this was making her very, very distressed throughout the, those, that period from when it happened to when the caregivers actually arrived. Um, and by having this insight and understanding into her needs that she otherwise wasn’t able to express, um, it really helped for, for the home care agency to implement the care in those hours where she needed it. Um, and they were able to really adjust the hours, so that caregivers came a little bit earlier, uh, before she was, you know, very uncomfortable and very distressed, uh, based on this situation. So, um, yeah, so it’s really helping the care agencies, not only to understand when there are those moments of a possible emergency or an event, but also understanding more deeply into what are the patterns of difficulties and where can they place their care, um, based on the intelligence of the data.

Melissa Mendez: (10:34)
It really, yeah, it, it helps risk mitigation, right? Identifying where the problems lie and, and altering the programs to improve client care. Right. We want to improve care, drive growth and, and sensei, and the technology provided really does that. It’s, it’s really great. How can agencies and technology solution partner together to provide aid with caregiver shortages while still maintaining a strong commitment to the quality of care?

Miki Rossanis: (11:10)
Yeah, so that’s obviously a really important part of why CNC really came about, and the whole vision of sensei was to take into account the fact that yes, there is this, uh, caregiver shortage, and it is a crisis within the home care, um, world at the moment. And what C is doing is really helping to optimize the care of seniors within their homes. Um, and it’s, it’s really not about replacing physical care. You know, we don’t claim that C’s gonna be able to be the, the machine or system that can provide that level of physical care or provide that companionship in human to human companionship, to, to a client, um, but sense these insights and, and recommendations really help home care agencies to optimize their care. And the way that that it does that is, is, like I said, in, in being able to adjust the care hours based on where we’ve seen that the client needs more care or where they, where we’ve seen where the client may need and, and shift in the routine of their care to be at a time where there are, there is that detection of more need.

Miki Rossanis: (12:23)
Um, but, but the other thing that really helps within the, the caregiver, um, retention is also providing them with, um, a feeling of being appreciated and being seen and being noticed, um, by being able to pinpoint on really great and exceptional care and positive interactions that are happening between client and caregiver. It gives the home care agencies an opportunity to really shine a light there on their amazing caregivers. And this is, um, you know, really proved to, to show that giving them that bit of appreciation to, to, towards an incredibly difficult job that they do, um, really helps to maintain them within their home care agencies, feeling that level of support and appreciation and that they, um, they’re, they’re being heard and they’re being understood in terms of everything that they’re doing and the very difficult job that they’re doing. Um, and the other thing here is also being able to show when there may be more caregiver training needs as well.

Miki Rossanis: (13:30)
So sometimes there will be more difficult, uh, times that are arising. And sometimes it is due to a client’s needs that a caregiver isn’t trained in being able to deal with yet, the caregiver is being put into that person’s home expected to be able to, you know, get the person up and dressed and showered and engaging in the care plan. But sometimes clients, you know, won’t want to, to engage in the care plan. And sometimes clients will be quite upset or quite distressed, or have certain cognitive changes are happening or mental distresses, distresses are happening or very severe physical ne needs and caregivers aren’t always, you know, completely up to scratch or knowing how to deal with all of those different situations. So by also providing the insights into those times, and those difficulties are happening, the difficulties for the client and for the caregiver also provides the home care agencies with this opportunity to then provide them with the techniques and the strategies and the ways of dealing with those times and giving them lots of tools in their tool kits, and a lot of resources for them to be able to, you know, continue on with this difficult job, but with more of that, um, more of those resources to know how to deal with, with the difficulties that then are arising.

Miki Rossanis: (14:58)
So this is another way as well of really helping to retain caregivers within this, um, within the caregiver shortage crisis that is happening, um, and give them that, give them that support they’re requiring to, to get on with, with their day to day jobs.

Melissa Mendez: (15:17)
Yeah, the support, right. We talk about, they need the training, they need the support and, and this gives them time, right time back, that they can focus on the client and the client’s need, because they’re aware of what has happened, that’s provided through the data. So it’s, it’s great. Um, and, and also too, it allows clients, um, we’ve talked about this earlier, but to allow people to age in place, um, allow people to stay at home. This gives an extra, um, support to both client and caregiver to give that good, um, strong quality of care. How can a patient’s family utilize AI technology for peace of mind about their loved one? And, and what about for clients who maybe are resistant to the idea of having in-home care and how can this technology help the agency support the client and their families?

Miki Rossanis: (16:15)
That’s a really great question. And I guess we’ve already mentioned how, since he’s helping the home care agency, the client themselves, and the caregivers who are there on the ground, but we haven’t yet mentioned how, since he’s really helping the family members who are often the ones who are very concerned about their loved one, who’s living at home as independent as possible, but is, you know, difficulties are arising. And this is definitely, you know, where we are seeing a lot of, um, need for sensei is actually really for the family members themselves, um, and having that peace of mind and, and having that, um, those insights and awareness into their, their loved one what’s happening for them. And that is the families who live down the road and who see their, their loved ones every day. And it’s the families as well, who may not live in the same state as their mom or dad or, or grandparent, and they they’re worried and concerned.

Miki Rossanis: (17:14)
Um, and so what sensei’s able to do for the, for those people, for the, for those families is really give them a sense of understanding and knowledge, and also give them some of those strategies and recommendations for managing and dealing with the, the possible anomalies are happening and occurring. Um, and it’s really interesting because often what is happening is that a lot of clients, they don’t want to receive physical care, or they’re very resistant to wanting to have someone in their homes, um, someone who they’re not familiar with, or who, um, who they don’t know who’s coming in and they’re providing them with that care. So what we’re finding actually is that a lot of clients are having, um, sensei put into their home as of this virtual care agent prior to receiving that physical care. And this has happened in a number of cases, but one in particular comes to mind where, because of this scenario where family were concerned, client had some care needs, but wasn’t really, um, you know, admitting to that or wanting to receive the care towards her needs.

Miki Rossanis: (18:30)
Um, so care was so since he was implemented prior to any physical care, and what sensei was really picking up on was quite a lot of cognitive difficulties happening. There was a period of the day where, you know, sensei was picking up on a lot of what we call cognitive anomalies. And these are instances where the client was very confused, quite forgetful, quite disorientated, making a lot of phone calls towards the family members in a lot of distress. Um, and in general, having a lot of difficulty during this period of time. Um, and by having this, you know, summary of, of what is occurring, you know, what is the data, where are these cognitive anomalies happening and why? Um, it, it really gave the home care agency and then the family members with a bit more of a perspective into what’s happening for this person during the periods where there, there aren’t visitors there aren’t family there to, to keep an eye on her.

Miki Rossanis: (19:34)
Um, but there are difficulties happening. Um, and it, I think it really help them to understand how integral physical care was, but also help them to be more, um, more intelligent with where they placed the physical care. Um, and so by using the sensei data, they were able to then implement that physical care, um, with, with the clients, you know, consent and understanding as to this is where things are happening, where you need the care. It wasn’t just that they’re gonna now have her 24 7 with someone in her home. It was gonna be during that period where there was more difficulty. So it was being able to work with the client and with the data that was really picking up on those, those anomalies to then give her that safety, give her that, um, assistance during that period as she needed it. Um, and this really just was the beginning stages of implementing that physical care that really started to give her that feeling that okay, you know, actually she got on really well with the caregiver.

Miki Rossanis: (20:44)
There was a lot of great rapport and a really great client to caregiver match, and it, it really just then provided her with that first step and the first experience with having in that physical care. And, and of course the family were, you know, really at ease with knowing that their loved one was being cared for during the period where they, they really needed it. So, uh, this is definitely something that comes up quite a lot, um, with that resistance. And, um, it’s definitely something where, you know, home care agencies are moving even more so towards having senses the initial parts of their care, having sense as that virtual assessment as well into what are the needs before then providing that, um, the, the physical care towards where those needs are being picked up on,

Melissa Mendez: (21:37)
Right. We talked about, um, the hybrid, right? The hybrid care that it brings, um, to really give that peace of mind to loved ones to family members, um, and starting off that in-home care on the right foot, on the right journey with the right care plan, cuz you know, what’s, what’s led up to this point. So thank you so much. Um, Mickey, where can our listeners go to learn more about the use of C um, in their agency

Miki Rossanis: (22:08)
Mm-hmm so, um, firstly feel free to visit our website, um, its www.sensei.ai. And in our website we have loads of really, um, important information about sensei, about use cases and case studies of, you know, people have used, uh, sensei. Um, but also it gives you the opportunity there to book a demo, which is the best way to really, um, get to know sensei and uh, what we’re providing here. Um, and aside from that, we’re on all social media platforms and Instagram, Facebook on LinkedIn. So wherever is most, uh, convenient, then go, go ahead and find us on those socials and give us a follow and also find out a little bit more information about sensei.

Melissa Mendez: (23:01)
I love it. Thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate it. And I hope everyone listening was inspired to go investigate sensei.ai and see how it can really elevate your agency in providing that great quality of care. And as always, we’ll see everyone next Tuesday at 2:00 PM Eastern standard time and have a great day.