MIAMI, July 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — The recent, hilarious SNL skit about a fictional Amazon Artificial Intelligence device made specifically for elderly users, called ‘Alexa Silver’, is no laughing matter when you consider that 117 million people who have one or more chronic conditions are not receiving the care they need, resulting in over $1 trillion in avoidable costs annually in the United States. The good news is that an actual medical companion for seniors already exists, called ‘AVA’.

EliteHealth, an acclaimed chain of 5-star, innovative medical wellness facilities in South Florida, specializing in health care for Baby Boomers and Seniors led by industry leading physicians who care for past and present celebrities, politicians and Fortune 500 Companies’ CEOs, launched the ‘Intelliwellness AVA’, powered by Care Angel earlier this year. EliteHealth has targeted AVA as one critical component of their proprietary process of improving wellness, which has been proven to reduce re-admissions, increase longevity, and enrich the lives of these senior patients. Through a strategic partnership with Care Angel, EliteHealth is striving to remain at the forefront of the senior care market with this next evolution of remote patient monitoring and care management.  The SNL spoof brought attention to the emerging benefits of technology in the healthcare sector, more specifically, on how it can positively impact daily care for the elderly population.

“Artificial Intelligence is a crucial component to continuing the positive impact in wellness that we have seen in the health of the seniors we treat,” said Dr. Steven Schnur, EliteHealth CEO. “We pride ourselves on offering the latest digital technologies to help our elderly patients. Artificial Intelligence allows the continuity of care to flow from the hospital, to the clinic and into the patients’ homes, all with an equally high level of patient involvement. The SNL skit was very funny, but the truth is, AVA does exist and is showing spectacular early results as she acts as a medical companion for the elderly to improve health and reduce healthcare costs.”

EliteHealth, a wellness-focused medical practice that enables caregivers to engage in their patients’ emotional, mental and physical needs through a comprehensive continuum of care decided to implement AVA office-wide in February 2017 to serve as a healthcare virtual assistant. AVA fills the role of a virtual nurse and health companion that comes to life through any voice-driven device; landline, smart phone or “Alexa Silver“. Leveraging AI technology can enable real patient-centric offerings such as meal delivery, home tele-monitoring, medication review, and medical staff home visits, if required, to maintain a healthier and happier patient population, while reducing healthcare costs. A recent pilot program of EliteHealth offerings revealed that the frequency of its patient touchpoints, both at home and in a clinical setting, was key to reducing their patients’ overall medical costs and re-admissions to hospitals. The improved patient outcomes were produced by extending their health services into patients’ homes where they feel most at ease and motivated to heal.

“We are excited about our partnership with EliteHealth lead by Dr. Steven Schnur and his team of forward thinkers. EliteHealth is a true leader in the provider market space. By integrating our intelligent, engaging Virtual Nurse solution (ANGEL) into their Intelliwellness offering, they are closing the gaps in care between visits. Providing chronic and complex disease management and monitoring, as well as care coordination, at the enterprise level helps to support new Value-based risk payment models such as Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). By harnessing AI and voice to scale effective interventions within patient populations, EliteHealth and other clients are seeing outstanding results. The solution is demonstrating lower financial and clinical risks and happier patients,” explained Wolf Shlagman CEO and founder of Care Angel.

“Technological advancements are often not targeted for elderly patients because there is a false perception that technology is not useful for or relatable to seniors, as the SNL skit hilariously highlighted,” shared Dr. Perry Krichmar, COO for EliteHealth. “The reality is that AVA Intelliwellness, medical companion has demonstrated positive results, and extends our customized healthcare for the elderly into our patients’ homes and we couldn’t be more exciting. The SNL skit is a fun, unexpected way to raise awareness that AI companions are beneficial to seniors’ long-term health.” 

AVA is currently being used by members of EliteHealth as part of their 360-degree approach to reimagining the healthcare continuum, to establish and maintain wellness and extend the quality of life.  AVA is capable of proactively engaging patients through a simple 1-2-minute Care Call. AVA can ask questions about their mental and physical wellbeing, gather vitals, remind them to take their medications, deliver doctor instructions and health education. AVA guides patients to take proper action and overtime, learns about the patient and adapts their care plans automatically, as the patient’s health changes. AVA can automatically alert care managers/providers or a family member when there is a potential concern or immediate need. AVA also has the capability to transfer the Care Call directly to their Nurse Triage Line to provide any clinical service necessary, in real time, which can help prevent unnecessary ER, urgent care or hospital visits. Seniors currently enrolled in Medicare Advantage are eligible for membership in EliteHealth’s Senior VIP program at no additional cost. EliteHealth currently operates five Florida-based primary care centers located in Dade and Broward counties and are opening two new locations in Sarasota, Florida.

The original SNL skit can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvT_gqs5ETk

About EliteHealth 
EliteHealth’s Miami-based multi-specialty medical organization focuses on disease prevention and wellness. Founded by CEO Steven Schnur, MD and COO Perry Krichmar MD, the practice focuses on the prevention of chronic and acute diseases. For more information visit: www.elitehealth.com. www.intelliwellness.com.

About Care Angel
ANGEL simplifies and amplifies care at scale by enabling the most effective and engaging way to manage chronic disease at the lowest cost, starting with a simple phone call. Care Angel’s SmartCare 3.0 Platform is an award winning, patent-pending, multi-modal healthcare communication, engagement, and monitoring platform designed to augment care for aging-in-place seniors, post discharge, and chronic care populations to live healthier, safer, and more independently while greatly augmenting the family and professional caregiver’s ability to provide better care. ANGEL enables organizations such as at-risk payers/providers, employers, and health systems to more efficiently care for the sickest and costliest populations, improve health outcomes, and lower costs while improving quality of life. For more information visit: www.CareAngel.com.

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SOURCE EliteHealth