Capitol Home Health Reduces Rehospitalizations & Expands Hospital Partnerships with Telehealth
SAN ANTONIO and AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Capitol Home Health has announced a 5.65% average 30-day rehospitalization rate for telehealth patients between January and November of 2019. Capitol Home Health partnered with Health Recovery Solutions (HRS), a leading telehealth vendor, in 2018, to provide comprehensive remote patient monitoring and expand access to care to patients in the San Antonio and Austin communities. With impressive rehospitalization rates across two locations, Capitol Home Health is now exploring partnership opportunities with the Cardiovascular Institute of South Texas to create a care continuum for patients and pursue telehealth reimbursement opportunities.
At both its San Antonio and Austin branches, Capitol's telehealth program focuses primarily on patients with CHF and those recovering from Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery. In addition, Capitol Home Health monitors hypertension, COPD, liver transplant, and joint replacement patients. Patients are evaluated and enrolled in the telehealth program based on rehospitalization risk as well as ability and home environment.
Patients utilize the telehealth software, 4G tablet, and Bluetooth biometric monitoring devices provided by HRS to record their vital signs and medications, answer symptom surveys, watch educational videos, and communicate with clinicians via phone, text, or video calling. All patient data, from daily vitals to symptom changes and medication adherence is recorded and transmitted to the clinician's dashboard on their desktop or mobile device.
The telehealth programs at Capitol operate as centralized models, with all patients monitored by RN clinical supervisors. Upon receiving a patient risk alert from the HRS platform, clinical supervisors review patient medical records, recent orders, medications, and a 14-day history of readings. Clinicians then contact the patient, leveraging HRS' video calling capabilities in order to perform thorough evaluations of the patient and their environment.
Through video calling, Capitol Home Health's clinicians can assist patients in recording their vitals, walking them through the process and ensuring proper use of the biometric devices. Video calling helps Capitol's clinicians develop trusting relationships with patients and their caregivers. Clinicians contact physicians if indicated by the video intervention. To perform efficient interventions and quickly resolve patient risk alerts, Capitol Home Health maintains standing orders for medications.
"Capitol's clinical teams in both Austin and San Antonio have done an incredible job prioritizing patient adherence and satisfaction, ensuring patients receive the critical care they need, when they need it," said Devon Wetter, Client Success Manager at HRS. "In the past few months, both branches have increased average patient adherence by 10% which has had a direct impact on rehospitalization and patient outcomes."
In preparation for the patient-driven groupings model (PDGM), Capitol Home Health's San Antonio and Austin branches are working together to further incorporate virtual visits into patient care plans and continue to grow their telehealth programs to provide the best care possible for their patients and communities.
"We are increasing the use of telehealth with the criteria centered around hospitalization risk," said Lisa Welter, Administrator, Capitol Home Health San Antonio. "Our team is working to incorporate the video calls into the visit mix where appropriate to increase our visibility and frequency of interventions with our patients," added Melisa Arnette, Administrator, Capitol Home Health Austin.
In addition to PDGM preparation and a partnership with the Cardiovascular Institute of South Texas, Capitol is pursuing partnerships with St. David's Hospital, Heart Hospital of Austin, and AdventHealth. The partnerships will help ensure patients receive comprehensive treatment throughout their episode of care and improve clinical outcomes across Capitol Home Health branches and partner organizations.
Capitol Home Health
To learn more about Capitol Home Health, visit https://capitolhomehealthcare.com/ or call (512) 467-6900.
Health Recovery Solutions
To learn more about Health Recovery Solutions, visit www.healthrecoverysolutions.com or call (347) 699-6477.
Media Contact: Tess Meehan, tmeehan@healthrecoverysolutions.com
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SOURCE Health Recovery Solutions
