St. Francis Health Services of Morris (St. Francis) began piloting the Somatix SafeBeing technology in six of its long-term care centers: Duluth Health Services, Koochiching Health Services, Renville Health Services, Chisholm Health Center, Morris Health Services, and Browns Valley Health Center. SafeBeing requires a resident to wear a wristband device with built-in technology that utilizes gesture detection technology, machine learning, and advanced analytics to enable residents and their caregivers to passively monitor their activity levels, sleep patterns, hydration, and more. SafeBeing provides the capability for real-time monitoring while respecting the person’s privacy.
“We are in the early phases of implementation yet, but we are excited about this opportunity to be able to bring in state-of-the-art technology to improve care and safety for individuals receiving services. For the residents currently wearing the SafeBeing wristbands, we are getting a better understanding of activity levels and sleep patterns, which is important to know as we plan personalized care around fall prevention and aim to improve quality of care and safety,” states Marla Miller, RN, BSN, PHN, St. Francis Corporate Grant Project Coordinator. “As the individual wears the device, it captures patterns, and the data helps our care teams to recognize potential status changes earlier so staff can potentially take steps to intervene earlier on when changes are noted,” explains Miller.
“We are excited to partner with St. Francis Health Services of Morris to bring our next-generation, innovative remote resident monitoring solutions to its residents. As a healthcare provider with a history of almost 60 years of operation in providing services to elders, St. Francis is aligned with Somatix® Inc.’s mission of improving care through early detection of disease, advanced clinical insights, and real-time status changes,” says Charles K. Herman, M.D., M.B.A., Chief Executive Officer of Somatix® Inc. “It was immediately clear to us that St. Francis is an extremely innovative and forward-thinking organization, putting resident care above all else,” added David Futoran, Somatix® Inc. Head of Partnerships.
The use of this new technology has been made possible by funds awarded by the Minnesota Nursing Facility Performance-based Incentive Payment Program (PIPP) grant by the Minnesota Department of Human Services for the St. Francis Falls Prevention Project. St. Francis selected the SafeBeing platform to reduce falls and improve quality outcomes in its long-term care communities. St. Francis will use SafeBeing to track and analyze senior health and safety, motivated by a company-wide effort to deliver proactive, preventative care.