El Camino slashes hospital readmissions
Uses telehealth, care coordination to make big changes
New telehealth and data analytics initiatives at a Silicon Valley-based hospital aimed at significantly curbing readmissions rates have already helped effect a 25 percent decrease in hospital readmissions.
Officials at the 433-bed El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Calif. — the subject of a recent CHIME case study — decided to tap into hospital data and create a readmissions rate formula identifying which patients were considered high-risk for the metric. By utilizing both care transition teams and its year-old telehealth program connecting the hospital with long-term facilities, providers are able to follow up with high risk patients who normally would be readmitted to the hospital.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimate that 30-day readmissions rates for Medicare beneficiaries are nearly 20 percent, with a price tag of some $17.5 billion. For many hospital and health systems, these numbers are also significant.
"Nurses that are caring for that patient in the nursing home now feel like they are connected to their patient and also to the prior caregiver,” said Greg Walton, the hospital's chief information officer, in a June 28 press statement. “They realize that someone is paying attention to the patient’s status post discharge, and the communication level is vastly improved.”
Moreover, El Camino, via its own health information exchange, connects to 28 skilled nursing facilities that care for recently discharged patients. A nurse practitioner together with a care coordinator at the hospital work directly with nurses, social workers and administrators at the long-term care facilities.
Pat Kearns, MD, medical director at the hospital, says the re-focusing efforts and data analysis has really done big things. By identifying and monitoring those patients likely to be readmitted, Kearns said they see a more holistic picture. “There may not be just one thing to fix. Some don’t have a caregiver; some don’t have the money to fill their drug orders. With individualized analysis, we can apply a program that is appropriate for the patient rather than just trying to wave the same magic wand for everyone," he said in the CHIME case study. "The ability to easily identify these high-risk patients alerts all care team members, enabling everyone to intervene early and plan ahead."
