Electronic Caregiver uses own technology to keep employees safe

With the outbreak of COVID-19, Las Cruces-based Electronic Caregiver (ECG), a 24/7 virtual care and health technology company, has begun using its own product and services to monitor the health of its employees, ECG said in a news release.

“Employees who opt in on the initiative have, since early March, received the company’s Pro Health system, a chronic-care and remote-patient monitoring system, to install in their homes at no cost,” the release said. “All employees who opted into the initiative can use the Pro Health to monitor their health whether they are working from home or not.”

“We’re in a critical and important position serving public health interests,” said ECG founder and CEO Anthony Dohrmann. “Because thousands of patients and high-risk individuals depend on our solutions and services, we’ve got to make sure we’ve optimized internal safety and health protocols to ensure our staff is healthy and present, and able to serve. We are not a business that can accept disruptions to our care network.”

While ECG Tower in downtown Las Cruces is technically closed, the company is still open and operating because it is considered an essential business. Currently, only ECG employees whose jobs require them to be at the office are going into work, ECG said, and any employee who feels sick “is excused from work/allowed to work from home.”

The Pro Health will issue a daily morning reminder to use a connected, non-contact body-temperature device to check on employee health, the news release said. If a reading is designated as out-of-normal range, a custom, interactive assessment is conducted through the Smart Health Hub to survey for additional symptoms. Free apps are provided to loved ones the company refers to as care circles, so alerts and updates can be shared with family and even providers through a clinical portal. At the touch of one button an employee can connect with a physician-on-demand service remotely, called pocketMD. The employee can get a rapid in-home consultation and, in many cases, a prescription can be called in, all from home.

“This process gives us the ability to monitor for risk, slow and even stop the spread of infectious disease,” said ECG Chief Clinical Officer Tim Washburn. “We deploy a method of early identification and continuous monitoring which is paramount in situations like the coronavirus. It also leads to early intervention which can reduce complications and mortalities. We also have the ability to include additional monitoring devices for employees with chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease or diabetes.”

“For years the industry has been saying effective, affordable care needs to happen outside the doctor’s four walls and in the home,” said ECG President Joseph Baffoe. “We’ve answered that call with breakthrough user interface and solutions that deliver.”

Since COVID-19 began to escalate, ECG has provided non-contact thermometers to a number of medical facilities and businesses to assist in screening employees, visitors and, in some cases, clients and patients in doctors’ offices. These sites include Del Sol Medical Center, West Texas Container and GECU in El Paso; the Connecticut Department of Correction, Tucson Container Corporation and AlphaOne Ambulance Medical Services, Inc. in California.

ECG has become a leading and highly recognized brand for virtual-care solutions and remote-patient monitoring services. The company staff size more than doubled in 2019 and is nearing 150 full-time employees. ECG has invested more than $55 million and 10 years into research, development and a staged rollout of virtual care and health management solutions for chronic-care patients, children and older adults. Addison Care is the company's most advanced new technology, offering a Virtual Caregiver that deploys technology using IoT, 3D animation, mixed reality, Bluetooth, natural language processing, machine learning, visual sensing and a suite of integrated electronics.

Sign up for Electronic Caregiver service

To sign up for ECG services in your own home, call 833-ECG-LIFE (833-324-5433) or visit www.electroniccaregiver.com. Also visit www.addison.care.