NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Along with their families and caregivers, patients readmitted to hospitals within 30 days of discharge experience significant personal and financial hardship. Now, under Medicare laws, hospitals with high readmission rates also experience hardship in the form of millions of dollars in penalties.
Health Recovery Solutions (HRS) has solved the readmission problem, and is gaining national attention for its clinical successes and commitment to significantly improve outcomes for both patients and hospitals.
HRS provides hospitals and ACOs an early warning system to manage their highest risk patients. Following admission, patients receive a 4G tablet, loaded with individualized instructions and videos to follow while they are in the hospital and when they return home, all geared to avoiding readmission during the critical post-discharge period. At home, patients track their progress towards key milestones, such as taking medication as prescribed, weighing themselves, and staying appropriately active. Patient data is recorded and transmitted back to their care teams.
Results have been remarkable. In a randomized 50 patient study at Hackensack University Medical Center and Holy Name Medical Center, patients utilizing the tablet had an 8% readmission rate compared to a 28% readmission rate for patients who did not receive the tablet. The average patient was 71 years old and had an ejection fraction below 40%; the readmission rate was calculated on a 30 day period. Another benefit: patients in the tablet group averaged a 5 pound weight loss.
Patients are effusive in their praise of HRS' platform. One female patient reported: "medication reminders were a huge help and the video chat enabled me to ask my nurse small questions that had a big impact." Similarly, a male patient in his eighties said, “The tablet kept me motivated and organized. I wasn’t readmitted and I owe a big thank you to this program.”
As a result of the study, HRS has enabled both Hackensack and Holy Name to reduce their Medicare penalty by preventing 5 excess readmissions. The average NJ hospital is losing approximately $25,000 dollars for these types of readmissions.
HRS feels fortunate to be in a position to save hospitals and ACO’s money. "But," CEO, Jarrett Bauer, states, "in the end, it’s all about the patient. The most important thing we do is to help patients take care of themselves."
