Reducing Preventable ER Visits with Analytics
Every so often we see stories about 911 dispatchers burdened by non-emergency calls. They make headlines because people encumber the system with requests that are not urgent. The 911 system, of course, is intended for use in emergencies only. Emergency departments are built upon the same premise, yet overuse for non-emergent care remains a problem […]
Hospital Outsourcing a Lasting Trend, Especially for Remote Patient Monitoring
“Do what you do best and outsource the rest,” was a popular tagline coined by famed consultant Peter Drucker. Originally stated in the 1990s, the slogan remains ever relevant today. It’s a viable business strategy for hospitals anywhere when it comes to remote patient monitoring. Hospitals have always been concerned about their bottom lines. Today, […]
Hospital Readmission Problems Can Be Corrected by Telehealth Services
Earlier this decade, hospital readmissions had gotten so far out of hand that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) decided to do something about it. In 2012, they – or more specifically, Medicare – began penalizing hospitals for high numbers of patients who ended up back in the hospital within 30 days. It’s a […]
How to Reduce Hospital Readmissions by Identifying Four Drivers of Complications
No one doubts hospital readmissions have become a debilitating problem in healthcare. With 34,000,000 discharges in America every year, hospital readmissions create pointless spending for patients and the healthcare industry at large. What’s up for debate are its causes. We know that 20 percent of discharged Medicare patients come back within 30 days. That figure […]
Remote Patient Monitoring: Bridging the Gap Between Traditional Healthcare Settings and At-Home Care
Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring Remote Patient Monitoring is a unique management system that utilizes methods of advanced technology to provide a heightened quality of healthcare to patients. This special technology delivers healthcare services and gathers patient data in a setting that’s outside the realm of a conventional healthcare environment. In simpler terms, it’s a […]
Telemedicine could yield $6B per year in savings
Telemedicine has the potential to deliver more than $6 billion in healthcare savings per year to U.S. companies, according to global analytics company Towers Watson. Managing such savings would require all employees and their dependents to use the technology-enabled interactions in place of face-to-face visits to the doctor, urgent care center or emergency room for […]
UnitedHealth: 3 ways to better engage members
The post-healthcare reform era is causing a shift to a more consumer-centric insurance environment. Due to the rise in consumerism, payers are looking for ways to engage with their consumers to remain competitive and maintain a high level of customer satisfaction. UnitedHealthcare is focusing on three main areas to meet the ongoing demands of its […]
Remote patient monitoring: How mobile devices will curb chronic conditions
It’s only a matter of time before the exam-room-centered focus of patient care gives way to management of assigned populations to maintain or improve health. That’s not to say physicians won’t be actively treating sick patients every day, but new payment models, with financial incentives and disincentives for physicians, call on healthcare providers to better manage […]
Medical Homes May Not Be the Answer
A patient-centered medical home (PCMH) demonstration project did little to reduce costs and utilization or improve the quality of care, researchers found. The 3-year study of 32 small- and medium-sized primary care practices — believed to be the first multi-payer pilot in the nation to report results over 3 years — found that the use […]
Nursing homes have high readmission rates
Hospitals or emergency departments readmit a large proportion of Medicare beneficiaries within 30 days of discharge from nursing homes, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Twenty-two percent of 50,000 Medicare beneficiaries treated at skilled nursing facilities in North and South Carolina needed emergency care within 30 days of discharge, and 37.5 […]
