ROSEVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Intel-GE Care Innovations™, a pioneer in connecting the care continuum to the home, today announced an extended collaboration with the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) that will bring a new model of care to thousands of chronically ill and underserved people across the Southeastern United States. Over the next five years, Care Innovations will provide UMMC with remote care management solutions through its Health Harmony platform as well as data analytics and application integration services. This new agreement builds on a statewide population health program, the Diabetes Telehealth Network, involving both Care Innovations and UMMC’s Center for Telehealth. Early results indicate the program has improved the health and lowered the cost of care for participants, who live in the Mississippi Delta.
The program will cater to a wide population of patients suffering from expensive chronic conditions that are often managed ineffectively and lead to preventable hospital admissions and emergency room use. The chronic conditions will include congestive heart failure, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and hypertension.
Care Innovations simplifies implementing and deploying remote care management by providing a one-stop shop for remote patient management technologies, customized program development consulting and intuitive and easy-to-use technology for the clinician, patient and family caregiver. Their innovative patient management platform, Health Harmony, removes the complexity of remote care management by encouraging the patient to engage in their own health from home using consumer-friendly devices and peripherals, interactive education, and videoconferencing. Through the Health Harmony platform, vitals data are transmitted daily to clinicians, interactive health sessions generate qualitative data points typical of those collected during an in-office visit, and algorithms monitor changes in existing patterns and alert clinicians to potential issues to be addressed.
“Half the state of Mississippi suffers from two or more chronic conditions, and we see so many of these patients come through our facilities on a daily basis,” said Kevin Cook, UMMC’s CEO of University Hospitals and Health System. “We knew we needed to find a way to help these folks take control of their own health. By extending this program, we expect to save $189 million in Medicaid each year just with the diabetic population. After seeing the success derived through our diabetes program with Care Innovations and the improvement in quality of life it provided for those enrolled, we are ready to extend the benefits to other chronically ill populations and healthcare organizations who share our vision of a healthcare system that extends into the home.”
After expanding its operations, UMMC’s goal is to enroll 1,000 patients each month both in and out of state by the end of 2016. UMMC’s decision to extend beyond state borders was driven by the runaway success of the initial program as well as persistent interest from other hospitals and health systems, employers, health plans and physician practice groups looking to employ similar remote management programs among their respective populations.
“Through our collaboration with UMMC, we have an unprecedented opportunity to address the serious health challenges Americans face today with a combination of technology, understanding of human behavior, and a different healthcare model,” said Sean Slovenski, CEO at Care Innovations. “Together, we’ve pioneered a proven set of best practices and unique workflows for this remote management program, giving UMMC the confidence to extend this transformative model of care to thousands of chronically ill patients while pushing healthcare into the future. UMMC has proven that remote care management should be a standard part of the healthcare system because it can improve health, keep people unnecessarily out of the hospital, and save millions of dollars.”
The results for the first phase of the remote care management program, which includes 100 Mississippians living with diabetes, have been strong. They include a 1.7% average A1C reduction, zero hospitalizations and ER visits, and a savings of $339,184 over 6 months. UMMC will initially expand the program to its three campuses and focus on people living with diabetes, heart failure, COPD, asthma and hypertension. Over the next year, UMMC expects to expand its workforce working in the remote care management program from 50 to 170.
“Before we kicked off the diabetes program last year, we knew the results would be impactful for our patients, but we just didn’t know it would be this impactful,” said Dr. Kristi Henderson, Chief Telehealth and Innovation Officer at UMMC. “Care Innovations has been an invaluable ally. Their unmatched expertise contributed immensely in surpassing our initial measurements of success, proving that this model of care is feasible to implement and can generate savings quickly. Because we started with a patient population facing the most difficult challenges, we are extremely confident we will continue to be successful as we expand the program to other chronic conditions and in working with other healthcare organizations outside of Mississippi.”
Since 2011, Care Innovations has led the movement to extend care beyond clinical settings and into patients’ homes with its unique remote care management solutions. Remote care management provides more frequent touch points between clinicians, caregivers, and patients, while helping to lower the cost of chronic care delivery and improve the quality of care.
Care Innovations has introduced several remote care management solutions since its inception. The company’s fourth generation telehealth technology solution, Health Harmony, simplifies remote monitoring to meet the needs of everyone involved. By providing intuitive and easy-to-use technology, individuals, clinicians, care providers, and family caregivers are able to easily collaborate for better care in the home – wherever home may be – and within normal daily routines.
About Intel-GE Care Innovations™
Intel-GE Care Innovations, a joint venture between Intel Corporation and GE Healthcare, connects the care continuum to the home and makes it easier for patients, family caregivers, and professional caregivers to interact and achieve better health at home.
Experts in technology and behavior change, Care Innovations identifies the best methods for health care providers and health plans to capture and integrate near real-time data from the home into care delivery. Visit www.careinnovations.com to learn more.
About the University of Mississippi Medical Center
Located in Jackson, UMMC is Mississippi’s only academic medical center and encompasses six health science schools, including medicine, nursing, health related professions, dentistry, pharmacy and graduate studies. The Medical Center’s health-care enterprise includes the state’s only level one trauma center and its only children’s hospital. UMMC’s education, research and health-care missions share the objectives of improving the health of the state’s population and eliminating health disparities. For more information, visit http://www.umc.edu and umc.edu/news_and_publications.
