Over the past three years, the healthcare industry has been losing its workers by the tens of thousands. Among the 47 million Americans who resigned from their jobs in 2021, there's a significant amount of health professionals to be found. In fact, since 2020, one in five healthcare workers have quit their jobs, and it's estimated that up to another 47% plan on leaving by 2025. In addition to those who are making the concerted decision to quit, physicians across multiple healthcare specialties are nearing retirement age, and that wave of retirement has increasingly detrimental effects on those who remain. Inevitably, the long-term effects on both physician and hospital performance are overwhelming to the workers left behind and devastating to the patients for whom they care.  

The common challenges faced by hospitals due to staffing shortages include having to spend more on contract labor and feeling pressure to consolidate. The reality is that patient safety is at risk nationwide due to these ongoing labor shortages, though many smaller rural communities in the U.S. are suffering even more acutely than urban areas.

Factoring in increased life expectancy, there will be far more demand than supply of healthcare within the next few years, particularly among the aging U.S. population.  Poor overall health of patients going into acute care and rising illness rates are creating the perfect storm for a multi-pronged crisis. It's crucial to acknowledge this crossroad in the healthcare industry, and to identify technologies that can mitigate the adverse impact of the acute staffing shortage - before the industry itself ends up on life support. Having lost an estimated $54 billion in net income nationwide during the pandemic, hospitals must make some tactical decisions moving forward.

A number of hospitals are making, or have already made, a proactive decision to implement an SMS based and AI-enabled digital care platform, Upgraid^TM by mend. This best-in-class perioperative patient optimization platform for total joint arthroplasty is different from any other: It allows extended patient care beyond the hospital walls and enables further recovery at home, accelerating the healing process.

Through this phenomenal program, patients benefit by receiving hands-on coaching, support, guidance, and health monitoring from certified professionals. The remote monitoring triages critical questions through a team of registered nurses, reducing the number of patient calls to the hospital. The comprehensive Upgraid^TM platform frees up limited resources and overburdened staff, allowing them to focus on their in-hospital service, which is of course advantageous for healthcare workers and patients alike.

Implementing programs such as Upgraid^TM results in hospitals and clinicians feeling less burdened with pre- and post-operative care. By mitigating the mental and physical exhaustion, Upgraid^TM presents a viable solution, reducing the rate of burnout, which subsequently brings down the numbers of workers who quit because of it. Once an enhanced digital care platform is implemented, qualified health workers who recognize the benefits and implications of this innovative solution are more likely to return to, remain in, or join the healthcare industry, which positively impacts the career longevity of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals.

Supported by strong science, the Upgraid^TM platform integrates mend's clinically proven nutripharma products with both a pre- and a post-surgery remote digital health coaching program and provides increased touchpoints with patients for a superior treatment experience. Upgraid^TM has been rigorously tested, enabling healthcare professionals 

to collect important data on clinically proven enhancements in outcomes.

Upgraid^TM is currently expanding across the U.S. and is expected to be in more than 20 hospitals by the end of 2023.