Join Megan Antonelli as she speaks with Jenice Larmond, RN, BSN, MBA, Clinical Innovation & Excellence Officer at Neteera, about how radar-based ambient monitoring is rewiring clinical culture toward prevention. Discover how FDA-cleared contactless technology continuously monitors heart rate, respiration, and occupancy & motion insights through clothing and bedding—detecting subtle changes before they become crises. Learn why health systems report dramatic reductions in alert fatigue, increased early interventions, and prevention-focused care delivery. If you're building RPM, post-acute care, or aging-in-place programs centered on early detection, this conversation reveals the cultural shift happening now.
Jenice Larmond, Chief Clinical Officer, Neteera
Megan Antonelli, Chief Executive Officer, HealthIMPACT Live
0:01 Intro: Welcome to Digital Health Talks. Each week we meet with healthcare leaders making an immeasurable difference in equity, access, and quality. Hear about what tech is worth investing in and what isn't as we focus on the innovations that deliver. Join Megan Antonelli, Janae Sharp, and Shahid Shah for a weekly no BS deep dive on what's really making an impact in healthcare. Welcome to Digital Health Talks, where we spotlight change makers transforming healthcare through innovation.
Megan: 0:35 I'm Megan Antonelli, CEO of Health Impact and host of the Digital Health Talks podcast, and I'm here today with Janice Lamont. Janice is the clinical innovation and excellence officer at Naterra. Naterra is an FDA ambient monitoring platform which demonstrates what prevention focused care delivers. With over 15 million hours of continuous monitoring, dramatic alert fatigue reduction, and early intervention that detects subtle changes before they become a crisis. I've had the opportunity to get to know Janice over the years that she has been at Naterra. This isn't even our first interview, so I'm so excited to have you back on the show. Janice, how are you?
Janice: 1:16 I'm well, thank you, Megan, for having me.
Megan: 1:18 First of all, my pleasure. I know I've missed you at some recent conferences, so I'm excited to see you and catch up and, you know, tell. I also want to congratulate you. You've got a recent promotion to the clinical innovation and excellence officer. So tell us a little bit about, you know, our audience, what you do at Naterra and your background because your background as a nurse and also on the payer side I know has really informed so much of what you're doing there.
Janice: 1:47 Yeah, it's been, it's been really, it's been a whirlwind kind of year for me and very rewarding. I came on board with Naterra with fresh eyes and that's the thing that I love about this is that you know, I came from the payer side and really was able to bring my years of expertise as a healthcare executive to the forefront here at Naterra. My goal is always to be able to merge and bridge that clinical divide between our technologists and the innovation and our end users. We want to make sure that what we're providing to our customers works. It translates well to them and in the end really improves the delivery of care. You know, as a nurse with over 25 years of experience I've seen so much in acute care, post acute care, payer, specialty pharmacy. You know, healthcare is so dynamic there's always constant change and so having a very broad view, really helps me to help the team understand the many different ways we can apply our technology and really understand the different needs of customers so we're tailoring it accordingly.
Megan: 2:58 Yeah I mean we're just seeing so many nurses come into such great roles in these organizations that are providing you know tools that are really at the forefront of clinical innovation. So as a nurse, your experience in terms of what that means to put all these changes in place. And I think, you know, what you've been able to do in terms of rewiring clinical culture from crisis response to prevention, what critical gaps and kind of early detection have you observed as a nurse, you know, with this contactless, continuous monitoring?
Janice: 3:40 So as a nurse, you know, fundamentally, the problem was simple as only, you know, new patients with troubles in crisis. We find that normally you're checking vital signs, maybe depending on the facility, depending on the population, depending on the kind of services that's being provided. It's, you know, every 4 to 6 hours or maybe once a shift. In some areas it may be once a month for skilled nursing services unless the patient has some kind of symptoms that you're monitoring. And so what we find is that, you know, checking vital signs that infrequently we may miss gradual changes over time. And you know any signals for deterioration such as respiratory rates creeping up or you know subtle heart rate changes. You know, there are patterns that cannot be identified if you're just doing spot checks. So you know for us our ambient monitoring really fills in that gap because we're providing true continuous data without, you know, burdening the patient. No wearables to remove, no electrodes, you know, that may cause skin breakdown for those patients and no devices that are going to be limiting, you know, the possibility of mobility. So we find that we are able to capture trends that normally are just not seen with spot checks.
Megan: 5:13 Yeah, I mean, it is really interesting to think about, you know, I mean, it really changes the workflow, right? I mean, when from kind of a reactive to a proactive care approach, you know, and in some ways, that has an impact on kind of the nursing, you know, just the stress and the burden to the nurses as well, right?
Janice: 5:32 Yeah, yeah, you know, when you're on average, most nurses are. It's, unless you're in an acute care setting, it's not a one on one or maybe 2 to 1 ratio. You know, nurses, as you know, and this is not something new, they really have a full load of patients sometimes it's, you know, 6 to 8, 9 to 10, depending on, you know, what setting they're working in and so being able to really transform how that nurse and support how that nurse can make that clinical decision. As to how to prioritize for patient it's really important and you being able to seamlessly integrate that into that workflow as a support mechanism for that nurse really helps them because again spot checks don't really give them a full scope of what may be happening with that patient. Maybe it's not the nurse that's taking the vital sign. It may be a CNA or an MA, you know, a patient care tech that is taking that information and so being able to know that that ambient monitoring is taking that and then delivering you timely appropriate alerts as to what may be happening or changes it really frees up the nurse from that repetitive task and equips them with trending data that you know shows patterns and that's such a difference in how we care for patients now if you're in a non-acute setting than what we can do with our technology.
Megan: 7:03 Yeah, I mean, it's really a fundamental shift. And when you think about that, you know, not just the going in and the taking of the vitals and the sort of what's getting missed, there's also the other side of that reactive side of the alarms, right? I mean, how many alarms, I mean, the nurses are going to go where the alarms are, where the, where that happens. And so, you know, I know Naterra has a smart notification system. How is that kind of changing, you know, the clinicians, you know, kind of focus in terms of early warning signals and, you know, versus responding to alarms, right?
Janice: 7:41 Alarm fatigue, alarm fatigue is very dangerous. You know, when everything alarms, nothing really matters and we don't want that to happen. We want to become, we become desensitized to it and you know and it becomes a problem and then the tool no longer is useful. You know, so constant being constant reactive mode without mental space to prevent or to think about what you need to do next is not very smart so. You know, being able to use a proprietary algorithm that can differentiate a clinical meaningful change and providing you that information is a game changer. It transforms our environment from constant crisis because when you get that alert, you know this is something I need to action on because we're doing it within clear parameters and then. You know, you don't have that feeling of, am I jumping to every single thing every single time that something is happening. You want the team to be able to trust the technology and what it's telling us. And so that's when we're all on the same page, we're not chasing our tails. We're actually working towards a solution that makes sense for that particular patient.
Megan: 9:06 Yeah that makes perfect sense. And as you think about, you know, the number of people in post-acute care or skilled nursing facilities, you know how are they using this data day in and day out? How is it changing the way they're managing patients?
Janice: 9:21 So again, we're focused on delivery of quality care and reducing that alert fatigue. So when we deploy, we want to make sure that the environment is ready for that technology. We take the time to understand the workflow, understand the priorities and understand what each organization's goals are. Because one size doesn't fit all, you know, so when we're able to tailor our solution to meet their specific clinical and business needs, we're going to be able to create what we have hoped to create which is bringing positive change in the health of their patients and also relief to the clinician. We have customers of ours in skilled nursing facilities that have used our data to drive admission assessments and really understand what that trajectory is for their patients and we're finding that having that data visibility ahead of time really helps them understand what their capacity is. We had a customer who was able to identify which units had higher acuity which patient populations they should be receiving and it shifted their entire census the way that they did their admissions and really improved their operational efficiency. Another customer was able to really identify, with our data, which staff may need additional support in terms of clinical training so that we can improve the quality of care and obviously improve the clinical competency. The exciting part is when we're able to identify clinical patterns and we're being able to contribute to keeping people out of the hospital which is what we want. We had a customer where over a three-month period they actually had prevented a significant number of ED visits, prevented re-admissions and in doing so that customer saved over 1.2 million dollars. And I know that some of our customers are utilizing our platform to do prognostication which means they can really plan ahead in terms of what the trajectory of their care is going to look like and really be proactive about their medical management. So there are just so many different opportunities and use cases that we're really finding around this continuous monitoring.
Megan: 11:43 Yeah and you know it's interesting because, so as you think about the data that you're collecting on patients, and you know, really the burden on the clinicians in these settings. You know, what are the key metrics that you're tracking as you're evaluating the benefit of this deployment?
Janice: 11:59 So we track a lot of things. One of the primary metrics that we look at is obviously alert fatigue and we're looking at how many alerts are being generated per day and are they clinically meaningful. We also track how many alerts are being acted upon. So, it's not just about reducing alerts but understanding whether the alerts that are generated, the clinician is actually utilizing them and acting upon them. We also look at length of stay, hospital readmissions, ED visit, we look at patient quality of life. You know, do we see a decrease in patient falls, do we see improvement in nutritional status, the comfort of the patient. Another big metric for us is patient mobility. We want to see that patients are moving more and not becoming immobilized because of monitoring devices. And I think one of the most important metrics is clinician satisfaction and how they feel about using this technology. Do they feel that it's actually supporting them in making better clinical decisions? So those are all the things that we're tracking and measuring and we're always looking for ways to improve and to really understand what's working, what's not, and how we can continue to evolve and optimize our solution.
Megan: 13:18 That's fascinating and you know when we look at that holistically, you know what does success look like for an organization that's deploying this technology?
Janice: 13:27 So really, the ultimate measure of success is improving patient outcomes and making sure that the clinicians are satisfied and confident in the tool that they're using. You know, we want to see that patients are staying healthier for longer, that we're catching things early, that we're preventing unnecessary hospitalizations and that the clinicians feel empowered to provide better care. It's about creating a culture of prevention rather than a culture of reaction and that's what we're hoping to achieve.
Megan: 14:04 I think one other piece I want to understand better is, you know, how do you know when it's working, right? I mean, what does the staff see or feel when you deploy this solution that tells them it's actually working?
Janice: 14:18 You know, I think one of the most immediate things that they feel is that they're able to catch things earlier. So they may see a patient who normally would have deteriorated and gone to the hospital, but now they're catching it early and they're able to intervene and prevent that deterioration. I also think they feel more confident in their clinical decision making because they have continuous data rather than just spot checks. They also see their workload ease a little bit because they're not doing that constant repetitive vital sign monitoring. And I think at the end of the day, they see that patients are healthier, they're happier, they're more mobile and they're staying in their facility rather than going to the hospital. So those are the things that I think really demonstrate to the clinician and the staff that this is working.
Megan: 15:10 That's wonderful. So let me ask you about scaling this. You know, we have an aging population, we have a lot of challenges in post-acute care and skilled nursing. How do we scale this? How do we get this technology to more facilities?
Janice: 15:27 That's a great question and I think it's one that everyone in healthcare is thinking about right now. We know that there's such a critical need for better monitoring and better outcomes in post-acute care. You know, one of the things that we're focusing on is making sure that we're working with health systems, with payers, with integrated delivery networks to really understand what their specific needs are. We're also focusing on demonstrating the value through outcomes data and through that business case so that organizations feel confident in investing in this technology. I think another important piece is really having thought partnerships with our customers so that we can really understand what they need and then deliver that to them. We're also looking at strategic partnerships with other organizations that can help us extend our reach and really help us scale. But I think at the end of the day, what's really important is that we continue to innovate and evolve the solution to meet the changing needs of healthcare.
Megan: 16:38 Yeah and I think you know as we think about where reimbursement is going, where policy is going. You know, tell me about how this is being reimbursed and what the roadmap looks like.
Janice: 16:50 So reimbursement is evolving and it's really important for us to continue to work with payers and with policy makers to demonstrate the value of this technology. We're seeing some exciting developments in terms of remote patient monitoring codes and we're also seeing value-based care models that are supporting the use of ambient monitoring. I think what's important is that we continue to build the evidence base around the value of this technology so that payers feel confident in reimbursing for it. We're also working with health systems to really understand how they can leverage this technology within their value-based arrangements and their risk-based contracting. So I think the landscape is changing and I think we're going to see more and more reimbursement models supporting ambient monitoring over time.
Megan: 17:48 That's great and you know as you think about the future. What are you most excited about in terms of the work that you're doing and where you see this going?
Janice: 18:04 You know, I think I'm most excited about the potential to really transform care delivery at scale. I think there's so much potential with ambient monitoring to really change how we care for patients in post-acute care settings. I'm also excited about the potential to really empower nurses and clinicians with better data so that they can make better clinical decisions. And I think ultimately, what I'm most excited about is the potential to really improve patient outcomes and to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and emergency department visits. I think if we can do that at scale, we're going to have a real impact on healthcare delivery and really support the aging population in a much better way.
Megan: 19:00 That's wonderful. Well let me ask you one more thing. You know, you mentioned that you have a background as a nurse. You know, how does that inform your work today at Naterra?
Janice: 19:12 You know, I think my background as a nurse really gives me a perspective that I can bring to the table at Naterra. It helps me to understand what clinicians need and what challenges they face in their day-to-day work. It also helps me to understand the operational challenges that healthcare organizations face. And I think it helps me to be an advocate for both the clinician and for the patient as we're developing and implementing solutions. You know, I think one of the things that's really important is that we're not losing sight of the human element in healthcare even as we're introducing more technology. So I think my role is to really make sure that we're centering the needs of the clinician and the needs of the patient in everything that we do. And I think that's what's going to really drive innovation in a way that actually makes a difference in healthcare.
Megan: 20:20 I think that's so important and you know, we need people like you who have that clinical background really guiding these technology companies to make sure that we're building something that works for clinicians and for patients. So you know, one more question as we're wrapping up. You know, in your role as clinical innovation officer, what does a typical day look like for you?
Janice: 20:44 You know, a typical day for me is pretty varied and I think that's what I love about it. I'm working with our product and engineering teams to really understand what we're building and making sure that it aligns with clinical needs. I'm also working with our customers and really understanding what their challenges are and how we can support them. I'm also involved in thought leadership and really helping to share what we're doing and the work that we're doing at Naterra with the broader healthcare community. And I think another big part of my role is really being a voice for the clinician and the patient in all of our decisions that we make at Naterra. So every day is different and I'm constantly learning and I think that's what makes it so exciting.
Megan: 21:48 That's wonderful. You know, let me ask you about something that I think is really important. You know, as we think about equity and access to care. You know, how does ambient monitoring play a role in addressing health equity?
Janice: 22:04 That's such an important question and I think it's something that we need to be thinking about across all of healthcare. I think ambient monitoring has the potential to really help with equity and access because it allows us to provide continuous monitoring and better care to populations that may not have access to frequent clinical visits. I think it also has the potential to help reduce disparities in care because we're providing continuous data that can help clinicians make better decisions and potentially reduce bias in clinical decision making. You know, I think one of the things that's really important is that as we deploy this technology, we're thinking about how we can ensure that it's available to all populations and not just those that are wealthy or have good insurance coverage. So I think it's something that we need to continue to focus on and really make sure that we're addressing health equity as we scale this technology.
Megan: 23:09 That's really important. You know, let me ask you about integration with the electronic health record. You know, how is Naterra integrating with EHR systems?
Janice: 23:21 So integration with EHR is really important and it's something that we're focused on. We want to make sure that our data is seamlessly integrated into the clinical workflow so that it's actually useful to the clinician. We're working on integrations with major EHR systems and we're also looking at what the interoperability standards are so that we can really plug into any system. I think it's really important that the data that we're collecting is available to the clinician at the point of care so that it's actually informing their clinical decision making. And I think as we continue to evolve, we're going to see more and more seamless integration with EHR systems.
Megan: 24:12 That makes sense. And as we think about interoperability and data sharing, you know, what are some of the challenges that you see?
Janice: 24:24 I think one of the biggest challenges is that there are so many different systems out there and different standards. You know, EHR systems, patient portals, mobile health apps. There's a lot of different places where data is being stored and managed. And I think one of the challenges is really making sure that all of that data can talk to each other in a secure and meaningful way. We also have to think about data privacy and security as we're sharing data across systems. I think it's really important that we're using interoperability standards and that we're working collaboratively with other organizations to really make sure that data is flowing in a way that's secure and meaningful. So I think those are some of the challenges that we're facing but I think they're challenges that are solvable if we work collaboratively.
Megan: 25:27 Yeah, and as we think about remote patient monitoring, you know, how do you see this fitting into a broader strategy for, you know, keeping people healthy at home and in their communities?
Janice: 25:41 You know, I think remote patient monitoring is such an important piece of the puzzle in terms of keeping people healthy and out of the hospital. I think what ambient monitoring brings to the table is the ability to do that monitoring in a contactless, non-intrusive way so that patients can continue to live their lives and not feel like they're being constantly monitored. And I think that's really important for quality of life and for patient satisfaction. You know, when you're working in a home health setting, you often have patients that have limited resources or they may not have the ability to frequently check in with their doctor. They have chronic 1 to 2 chronic illnesses, the standard, you know, MO that they fit out there and you always want some more insight because again I'm the one that's following up and helping the doctors understand what their care has been, but being able to get insights ahead of time so I can paint a better picture. Really helps, I think, you know, me help them live a more stable independent life.
Megan: 26:50 Yeah, no, and I just, it's, you know, it's so the next step and it's that future and we're just kind of waiting for it to happen, right? Or some of us are actually making it happen like, yeah, I I just went to a conference in Georgia, the Georgia Health Improvement Summit conference, yesterday as a matter of fact, and it was very future forward. The theme was quite appropriate and it was exciting to see that a lot of things that we talked about maybe 5 years ago, not even that 10 years ago are being implemented and you're, it's not only happening and it's happening in various different healthcare settings. You have hospital settings, skilled nursing facilities, home health is doing things, everyone is really looking into understanding how important it is that we need to utilize the technology we have to really augment the care that we're giving because it's so much information coming at you having something being able to be synthesized so you can understand it easier so that you can be more effective in what you need to do. It's you can't go wrong with that, right?
Janice: 28:01 No, 100%.
Megan: 28:02 And you know how we always have our 5 Good Things segment, we go to our 5 good things. I think maybe you just already covered it because that future state is, is, you know what that's what gets me excited. But in our last couple of minutes, as you think about, you know, what is good in healthcare, what's good, what's coming? Is there anything else you would add to that in terms of, you know, what's next and what the real bright spots are?
Janice: 28:27 So, you know, I'm all for ambient technology as you know, but the thing that I am really excited about. A lot of places have deployed it for physicians. I'm really excited about the deployment for nurses. I think that's gonna be a game changer for us with all that we have to document. I'm really excited at seeing nurses really getting into those spaces with, you know, you know, technology companies bringing to light what we know happens at the bedside and how we actually work. I see that excitement going on, you know. And I also, what I'm really excited about because that, that was another thing that just happened and I think because it's so fresh in my mind, you know, at that conference we had so many student clinicians and healthcare students, they, they were really excited and they were right there in the forefront understanding. I was saying it was, it was a moment where you can clearly see the baton of, you know, healthcare IT being passed on to the new generation. So they're already ahead of the game. I feel like we were catching up and you know, we may be a little bit savvy with some as we learn because a lot of us, I know I didn't start off with having internet and a computer when I was young, but this generation that's all they know. So I think their adoption of it is going to be amazing and faster, but I like that they're getting involved now and really understanding where we were and kind of saying, OK, I totally know where you are, you're passing it on and where we're gonna take it. I think that's the amazing part of all of that.
Megan: 30:15 Yeah, no, it is. It's exciting and the future is bright, and these kids, well, you know, it is amazing, just the level of technology that they've been surrounded with their whole lives and what that's gonna mean for the future. But, well, thank you so much, Janice. I could talk to you all day. I love hearing your great perspective, and I just think, there's so much to the technology that Naterra brings to patients and health systems, but in terms of getting in touch with Naterra, obviously the website you're on LinkedIn folks can find you there, right?
Janice: 30:49 Absolutely, yes, I look forward to connecting with anyone, but there's so much and thank you for having me. I truly appreciated being able to have this conversation. It's exciting times.
Megan: 31:01 It is, Janice. Thank you. Thank you for joining us and of course, Janice, so you will very likely be at our future health impact conferences as well as other conferences around the nation and as we approach this fall. So you know I think what's great about this is it shows us that healthcare doesn't have to operate in perpetual crisis mode. I think, you know, talking about what Naterra does, it, it tells you sort of that this ambient monitoring is actually fundamentally rewiring clinical culture from reacting to emergencies to preventing them before they happen. So, you know, for leaders in post acute care and aging in place, it's not just about better technology but about the cultural transformation towards prevention focused care and value-based care models demand. And so while, you know, reimbursement and continuous monitoring and hospital at home, you know, continues to grow and build the case for reimbursement, these technologies that support it will be there. So it's not, not really, it's stopping the question of whether or not ambient monitoring is transforming care delivery. I am not even there anymore. It's kind of when will your organization adopt and lead or will they shift and follow up. So thanks again for joining us on Digital Health Talks and thank you to our audience. This is Megan Antonelli. Until next time, keep innovating.
32:24 Outro: Thank you for joining us on Digital Health Talks, where we explore the intersection of healthcare and technology with leaders who are transforming patient care. This episode was brought to you by our valued program partners Automation Anywhere, revolutionizing healthcare workflows through intelligent automation. Naterra, advancing contactless vital signs monitoring. Elite Groups, delivering strategic healthcare IT solutions. Cello, securing healthcare identity management and access governance. Your engagement helps drive the future of healthcare innovation. Subscribe to Digital Health Talks on your preferred podcast platform. Share these insights with your network and follow us on LinkedIn for exclusive content and updates. Ready to connect with healthcare technology leaders in person? Join us at the next health impact event. Visit HImpactforum.com for date and registration. Until next time, this is Digital Health Talks, where change makers come together to fix healthcare.