TeleHome Connects Hospitalized COVID Patients

Caregility and COVID Tech Connect have announced the launch of TeleHome, a free, HIPAA-compliant video conferencing app aimed at connecting COVID-19 patients with family and loved ones.

New App, TeleHome, Connects Hospitalized COVID Patients With Loved Ones Through Virtual Visitations

Health care professionals and caregivers can use the new app to help patients organize virtual visits from their families and friends. The TeleHome app has been made available for free in both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. For healthcare professionals to use the app, they must request a free user account on the TeleHome website.

Through COVID Tech Connect, 15000 smart devices have been donated to hospitals and health care facilities across all 50 states and territories. The project, which connects patients with loved ones, was enabled by donations of more than $4 million – including a grant from Google.org, a GoFundMe campaign and a grant from Google.org. The project plans to connect one million patients.

“We developed TeleHome so caregivers can virtually connect patients with their families, while maintaining hospital security measures,” said Anjali Kumar, co-founder of COVID Tech Connect.

With TeleHome, caregivers can now connect isolated patients with loved ones on any device. Developed in partnership with Caregility, the new HIPAA-compliant app ensures confidential information is protected and no personal information is stored on the device.

Caregility partnered with COVID Tech Connect to make TeleHome possible by donating engineering resources and technical infrastructure. Video calls made via TeleHome take place in a web browser, so users do not need to download an app or log in.

TeleHome’s benefits include:

Easy Connection: Patients can easily connect through TeleHome to a family member or friend through a private video call.

No Download Needed For Calls: The TeleHome video conferencing device never stores patient information, and it’s completely clean after every call.

Conferences Calls: Families and friends can join the video call at no extra cost.

“With visitations suspended, it has been difficult for patients, their families, and hospital staff to cope with the situation”, explains Marianna Harris, CEO of Osborne County Memorial Hospital. “The devices we received from COVID Tech Connect will help us reach out to our patients and their families, while giving us all a sense of normalcy at a difficult time.”