Improves Case Management Efficiency; Reduces All-Cause 30-Day Readmissions by 44%
DANVILLE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Geisinger Health Plan (GHP), using interactive voice response (IVR) and other innovative telemonitoring technology and solutions provided by AMC Health, has demonstrated a 44% reduction in 30-day readmissions compared to a control group, and increased case manager efficiency in monitoring patients transitioning from hospital to home.
The Geisinger Monitoring Program (GMP) interactive voice response protocol is a post-hospital discharge telemonitoring solution that was introduced as an adjunct to existing case management in a managed care population, and designed to reduce hospital readmissions. In this large scale, two-year telehealth program, GHP compared 30-day readmission rates for members who did and did not use the GMP home telemonitoring program to evaluate whether a comprehensive case management model with AMC Health’s telemonitoring solutions such as IVR reduced 30-day readmission rates. This successful telemonitoring program produced a statistically significant result, reducing all-cause 30-day readmission rates by 44% compared to a control group that had case management but no IVR protocol.
NOTE: A full manuscript is available detailing the successes of this innovative program.
The flexibility and scalability of AMC Health’s technology were key considerations in selecting AMC Health as a partner, given how rapidly telemonitoring technologies have been evolving. “What attracted us to AMC Health was that its technology platform was agnostic to the rapidly growing set of available monitoring devices and peripherals we saw penetrating the marketplace," said Jim Peters, MBA, System Vice President at Geisinger Health System and head of Geisinger's strategic industry partnering activities. “AMC Health’s solutions amplify our case managers' efforts to continuously innovate and actively engage patients within their homes in ways that aim to enhance quality, reduce total cost of care, and improve access. Our success in leveraging AMC Health's technology to reduce readmissions underscores our belief that providing clinicians with the right data, at the right time, to drive the right interventions is critical to driving the best patient outcomes.”
Geisinger initially integrated AMC Health’s Telemonitoring Solutions into its complex care management Heart Failure program in 2008. Approximately 1,000 heart failure patients are monitored remotely at any given time, and this has afforded expansion of the program to more patients in their case management program than in their previous IVR program. Geisinger reports patient compliance with the program has been greater than 85%. Prompted by automated IVR “outreach” after submitting their weight measurements, heart failure patients provide collection of symptom information through IVR on a regular basis.
In a survey of Geisinger case managers:
· 96% stated that the telehealth technologies allow them to monitor heart failure patients more efficiently.
· 85% believe that the telehealth solution in combination with close monitoring from the health care team helps to keep their patients out of the hospital.
Given the success with the IVR and heart failure programs, GHP has expanded its telehealth program to include patients with hypertension and diabetes.
“These patients are among the most challenging to manage,” said Janet Tomcavage, RN, MSN, Vice President of Health Services for Geisinger Health Plan. “The acuity of their condition requires constant surveillance to detect emerging exacerbations. If left unaddressed, this inevitably leads to increased emergency department utilization and costly hospital readmissions.”
“It is rewarding to be contributors to the success of Geisinger’s telehealth programs,” said Nesim Bildirici, President and CEO of AMC Health. “Geisinger is at the forefront of clinical innovation, and its senior leadership is committed to using the latest technologies in support of evidence-based best practices resulting in improved quality of life.”
Adds Maria Lopes, MD, MS, AMC Health’s Chief Medical Officer, “This collaboration will help to enhance the logic that identifies which technologies are most effective in the management of chronic conditions in the home and how clinical data can be embedded in day to day workflows to improve care coordination and outcomes. The essence of telehealth is to drive efficiency with clinically meaningful and actionable information, identify pre-acute trends, improve quality metrics and bridge any communication gaps between patients and their care teams, leading to reduced hospitalizations and costs.”
With telehealth tools threaded into their daily workflows, case managers track patient clinical progress in real-time, without the delays inherent in programs dependent on patient-initiated contact and self reported information. These technologies increase the opportunities for proactive intervention using biometric and symptom information captured in the patient’s home. Most important, armed with objective, reliable patient data and 24/7 Internet enabled visibility to the patient record, the case managers view telehealth as a beneficial enhancement to proven case management best practices, and not an added task to an already demanding process.
About Geisinger Health Plan
Geisinger Health Plan, begun in 1985, is headquartered in Danville, PA and is one of the nation’s largest rural HMOs. GHP is currently the top-rated plan in Pennsylvania and #8 in the country, according to National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2011-2012-Private list. The plan serves approximately 290,000 members in 43 counties. For more information, please visit www.thehealthplan.com.
Geisinger Health Plan is part of Geisinger Health System, an integrated health services organization widely recognized for its innovative use of the electronic health record, and the development and implementation of innovative care models including ProvenHealth Navigator®, an advanced medical home model, and ProvenCare® program. The system serves more than 2.6 million residents throughout 44 counties in central and northeastern Pennsylvania. For more information, visit www.geisinger.org. Follow the latest Geisinger news and more at www.twitter.com/geisingerhealth and www.facebook.com/geisingerhealth.
For more information about Geisinger Health Plan’s telemonitoring program, contact Amy Bowen at [email protected] or (570) 271-8135.
About AMC Health
AMC Health was established in 2002 with a mission to develop a more effective way to care for people with chronic conditions. AMC Health coordinates remote healthcare services and technologies. We empower patients and their clinicians by providing various clinical services, analytics and reporting, deployment of services, account management, customer care and telemonitoring solutions for the most effective healthcare plan. AMC Health is committed to personalized service and innovative solutions that deliver clinically meaningful and actionable information and add value to payers, members and providers to improve care coordination and improve outcomes.
For more information, visit www.amchealth.com, or contact Tracy Siegel at [email protected] or 646.428.0603.
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CONTACT:
AMC Health
Tracy Siegel, 646-428-0603
[email protected]
www.amchealth.com
or
Geisinger Health Plan
Amy Bowen, 570-271-8135
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America Pennsylvania
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Other Technology Practice Management Health Hospitals Medical Devices Nursing
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