This year has been an emotional and heart-wrenching time amid COVID-19. And yet, at the same time, it has been a period of fast and furious teachings as healthcare organizations learned how to adapt quickly in order to best serve the needs of critical COVID-19 patients. Alongside naviHealth trusted providers and health plan partners, Karen Chambers, VP of Market Clinical Operations at naviHealth, shares how the company has faced the challenges presented by COVID-19 to address the jump to virtual care to addressing unnecessary administrative burdens and enabling home-based senior care.

Geriatric nursing assistants are responsible for performing the brunt of the work in elderly care — helping patients eat, bathe, monitor their vitals and other health signals and take their prescribed medications. They also provide much needed companionship, which is crucial given the current loneliness epidemic. Underpaid and underappreciated, these healthcare professionals were already in short supply before the COVID-19 pandemic; when the coronavirus hit the United States, the shortage turned into a full-blown staffing crisis.