Dive Brief:
- On Monday, Royal Philips and Banner Health announced the results of a joint at-home telehealth pilot program for patients with multiple chronic conditions that reduced costs of care by 27% and reduced hospitalizations by 45%.
- In an effort to address the shift toward value-based care and increased penalties for readmissions, the Intensive Ambulatory Care (IAC) pilot program, part of the overall telehealth program at Banner, focuses on the most complex and highest-cost patients.
- To determine the effectiveness of the IAC program, Philips and Banner analyzed the results of 135 patients.
Dive Insight:
The hospitalization reductions are perhaps the most dramatic figure here. According to a release, prior to the program Banner saw 11.5 hospitalizations per 100 patients per month. Following enrollment, acute and long-term hospitalizations fell to 6.3 hospitalizations per 100 patients per month.
To further break it down:
- Acute short term hospital stays dropped from 7.7 hospitalizations per 100 patients per month to 4.9.
- Long term care, home health or other facility stays fell from 3.9 hospitalizations per 100 patients per month to 1.4.
- The average number of days in the hospital per 100 patients per month also fell—from 90.2 to 65.8.
"The results of our at-home telehealth pilot with Philips have been dramatic and are indicative of the exponential success such a program could have by engaging patients in their own care and building a strong support system around them," said Dr. Hargobind Khurana, senior medical director of Health Management, Banner. "As we continue to expand this program, we anticipate seeing further proof that telehealth programs can address readmissions rates, reduce costs, and improve the health and quality of life for patients with multiple chronic diseases."
How did they do it? Access to a broad care team that included social workers, pharmacists and health coaches. The team collected and analyzed "subjective health data to identify early stages of deterioration" to help prevent adverse events.