Technology is never a replacement for human interaction between care providers and the people they serve; it’s a tool. I think this pandemic has certainly accentuated that notion as we all revisit the way things used to be – the social gatherings, face-to-face communications, and physical touch.
Technology can optimize time management for the organization utilizing it that ultimately adds more money to the bottom line of the agency. Agencies can then re-allot the savings towards retaining and/or hiring new staff, improving the lives of the people they serve, or increasing the reach of the technology to more of their clients resulting in more…you guessed it…savings.
Here’s a prime example of how one of CreateAbility’s clients uses assistive technology to save their organization money:
A state agency has selected 10 of the people they serve who they feel are ready (and desire) to have less supervision during the course of the day. By utilizing MeMinder for two hours per day to implement a daily chore routine, this agency is able to remotely supervise each client for two hours of the day. This frees up their DSPs to do other things they have otherwise not been able to during a normal business day like paperwork, meetings, and training.
Here is how the savings breaks down in this instance:
DSP pay savings: $20/hr x 2 hours saved per day x 5 days a week = $200/savings per week
x 10 persons served = $2000/week in savings
x 26 weeks (length of pilot) = $52,000 total savings – $1,249.50 (cost of MeMinder x 10 people served = $749.50, plus $50 Amazon Fire for 10 people = $500)
Total, 6-month savings for agency: $50,750.50.
The math is relatively simple in this case, especially since the majority of CreateAbility’s technology solutions are one-time expenses. (The return on subscription-based products complicates this equation a bit.) In the end, the big question is what would you do with an extra $50k?
Oh, and the people served appreciated the increased independence. How do we put a value on that?
If you would like to speak to us about how to use assistive technology to save time/money, please email us at info@createabilityinc.com.
Read about other ways that MeMinder is helping organizations save time and money here.
