CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Please replace the release dated June 29, 2017 with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions.
The corrected release reads:
RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES THE POWER OF PERAHEALTH’S ROTHMAN INDEX TO TRIGGER PALLIATIVE CARE, DECREASE COSTS
PeraHealth, a provider of predictive, real-time clinical surveillance solutions, announces that Yale New Haven Hospital’s recently published study in the Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing highlights the continued clinical value of the Rothman Index in palliative care. As demonstrated by this study, combining the Rothman Index with a length of stay measure trigger for palliative care intervention may have the potential to bend the cost curve for the health care system. Findings revealed that patients receiving the palliative intervention had a decrease in the mean length of stay from 26.3 days for all other groups, to 13.9 days, and the odds ratio of a 30-day readmission for those patients without a palliative visit was 4.4. For those receiving the palliative intervention triggered by the Rothman Index, costs were lowered by 54 percent.
Despite the increased number of palliative care teams in the United States, access to palliative care in the hospital continues to be inadequate1. Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life of patients with serious illness, a population of approximately 90 million,2 and while it offers a number of benefits to families and providers, identifying patients with these needs can be challenging using traditional screening tools and triggers.
“During the palliative care process, it’s key for providers to understand the current and historical acuity trends of a patient, which can be difficult with existing screening tools,” says Stephanie Alexander, CEO of PeraHealth. “This study highlights how the Rothman Index can identify patients who can benefit from the expertise of palliative care teams, resulting in safer and more efficient care.”
Yale New Haven’s pilot study evaluated the use of PeraHealth’s Rothman Index (RI) as a trigger for palliative care – measuring the patients’ RI score and length of stay to determine patients who may require this level of care. The RI is a validated, disease agnostic, continuous measure of patient condition that is calculated using a range of physiological measures, such as inputs, including labs, vitals, and nursing assessments. Using this data from electronic medical records, the patients’ RI score is calculated and displayed in graphical form, available in real time without any additional work for clinicians.
“Knowing the challenges associated with this complex, palliative care process, we sought to explore how this technology could assist our teams and improve patient care,” says Rebecca Gagne Henderson, MSN, APRN, ACHPN, Program Manager, Palliative Services at Yale New Haven Hospital. “We see great potential in leveraging these technologies to shorten patients’ hospital stays, lower costs and enhance patient care.”
The value of predictive, real-time clinical surveillance solutions was echoed at the recent PeraHealth Roundtable in May in Houston, Texas – an annual event which brings together industry-leading physicians, nurses, informaticists and other healthcare professionals to share best practices around their care delivery journeys. This year, more than 70 customers gathered to highlight best practices across end-of-life care, emergency and critical care, and physician engagement, and discuss the role PeraHealth solutions have played along the way.
About PeraHealth
PeraHealth is transforming healthcare through the intelligent use of data. By leveraging the Rothman Index, a validated patient acuity score, PeraHealth’s clinical surveillance software solutions enable healthcare providers to identify at-risk patients sooner for earlier intervention. They also help providers determine when to discharge patients; prioritize patient bedside visits and nursing assignments; improve documentation accuracy and timeliness; optimize ICU bed use; and identify opportunities for palliative care consults. More than 80 leading hospitals and care providers, such as Yale New Haven Health System, Houston Methodist, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, utilize PeraHealth’s real-time, predictive analytics to improve quality and reduce costs. Clinical results include lowering mortality rates by 30 percent. For more information, visit PeraHealth.com and @PeraHealth.
1 Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, “Using the Rothman Index and Length of Stay as a Trigger for Palliative Care in the Medical Intensive Care Unit and Step-Down Units,” 2017
2 Center to Advance Palliative Care, “Palliative Care Facts and Stats,” 2014
