Digital transitional care management - with CareNext

Some patients need continued inpatient or outpatient care after they have been officially discharged from the hospital after treatment. Finding an acceptable discharge placement to ensure continuity of care is a very time-consuming process for hospitals. A team of young entrepreneurs from Nuremberg, Germany, has created a solution to this problem with its "CareNext" platform, which it will showcase at MEDICA 2021 in the MEDICA START-UP PARK.

In this MEDICA-tradefair.com interview, Daniel Eberhardt talks about "CareNext" and explains how the platform can support the transitional care process that takes patients from the hospital to another care setting.

Mr. Eberhardt, what is the goal you want to achieve with "CareNext"?

Daniel Eberhardt: We want to make post-hospital care and the transition to inpatient and outpatient settings and – in the next step – to rehabilitation facilities digital and subsequently more efficient.

What problem does your solution address in this setting?

Eberhardt: Hospitals work under a certain level of time pressure to transition their patients to a post-acute care setting, since every patient occupies a bed. Social services in hospitals and medical centers often ensure that appropriate arrangements for post-hospital care will be made. Unfortunately, they have no market overview, meaning they must manually contact local care facilities and find a suitable available placement.

The patient also has a right to choose the facility, which means juggling all these roles and expectations can be a very time-consuming endeavor for the responsible employee.

What function does your platform serve within this process?

Eberhardt: The responsible employee can enter the relevant patient data into the platform to then compare and match it with local facilities. He or she can select the accommodations individually or start a smart search. CareNext automatically launches a search to find the best matches in the area and puts in a request with the facility.

Meanwhile, care facilities or outpatient services can also take the initiative to register with us and specify preferred candidates they are willing to accept. They will subsequently receive a structured request with all the pertinent information to check whether the patient is a good fit for their residential community.

How did you come up with the idea for the platform?

Eberhardt: Everyone at CareNext has had a personal connection to the subject. Along the way, we noticed the challenges in finding the right care setting for our loved ones. During our studies, we debated how a technical solution could make it easier to find the appropriate post-hospital care for private individuals.

During our investigation, we discovered that this idea is actually more relevant for hospitals since 70 percent of patients in need of continuity of care originate in hospitals and are typically not based on private initiatives.

Prior to this, did your team have any health care connection?

Eberhardt: Our background is in computer science but since we receive funding as part of the EXIST program of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, our mentors at the Nuremberg Institute of Technology also come from the hospital and care sector.

How long has the platform been around?

Eberhardt: It has been in development for about a year and in practical application for three months. To this point, we have been working with the Clinic Fürth – a so-called maximum care provider as outlined in the German three-tier system – and multiple smaller, primary care facilities in the region.

What do you want to get out of your MEDICA trade fair participation?

Eberhardt: Needless to say, we want to attract potential buyers or partners for our product, intensify the communication and exchange as it pertains to transitional care and meet people who can help us look at the issue from different perspectives.