Luke’s Health System, a network of 11 hospitals based in Kansas City, Missouri, initiated the Hospital In Your Home model of care in July 2022 to reduce costs, improve outcomes, and enhance the experience. patient experience.
PROBLEM
Saint Luke’s has historically had a positive patient experience score, but is constantly striving to improve. The HIYH model of care gives patients the opportunity to stay in the comfort of their own home, to receive quality care and to be close to family.
Deborah Gash, senior vice president and chief digital officer of St. “We believe that caring for patients where they want to be cared for improves the overall patient experience,” says Luke. “The total cost of care for a patient in a hospital typically includes emergency room visits, hospitalization, and post-acute care services.
She continued: “We also predict the HIYH model will improve the overall health status of patients, reduce readmissions, and reduce the use of post-acute care services and visits at the hospital. emergency department, thereby providing a higher value service to the community”.
Furthermore, Saint Luke’s believes this model of care will help address capacity constraints that exist in traditional settings and reduce workforce challenges. Since the pandemic began, Saint Luke’s has seen large numbers of establishments.
The HIYH model offers an opportunity to expand capacity without building new hospital beds. It also provides a unique work experience for healthcare professionals, which management believes will enable clinical staff to continue to work, practicing at the highest level of their license in new ways, and challenging, while also potentially attracting new generations of caregivers into the healthcare sector.
PROPOSE
Following the launch of Hospital In Your Home, Saint Luke’s is expected to see an increase in overall patient satisfaction for similar acute care admissions, reduced readmission rates and health outcomes. consistent with actual acute care hospital stay.
Additionally, it is expected to be able to fill RN positions more quickly and easily, while providing those caregivers with a more satisfying clinical experience and high job satisfaction. than. Ultimately, Saint Luke’s is expected to reduce ED retention rates and acceptability of transfers from remote community hospitals for tertiary care services.
MEET CHALLENGES ONLY
Saint Luke’s has partnered with Medically Home to establish an integrated virtual and physical care model for HIYH census management.
Gash explains: “The model of care that leverages the technology provided by Medically Home, called Cesia, is integrated into the Epic EHR and installed in the home to connect the patient to a virtual command center. “It provides any-time access to providers and patients, and ensures monitoring and management of patient health.
She continued: “The command center workflows and processes are designed to support 24/7/365 high-level care in the home. “Its team is Saint Luke’s physicians, practice nurses, and registered nurses, who have the experience and training to provide high-grade acute care at home.”
The command center is connected to home service providers to ensure a seamless support team throughout the hospital stay. Saint Luke’s offers technology that allows any patient participating in the program to meet clinical criteria.
This technology is designed for redundancy, reliability, and ease of use. The command center team works with a variety of service providers to bring supportive care to the home. Key to the program’s success, Gash says, is this network of providers, which deliver everything patients need to their homes on demand.
She reports: “Saint Luke’s has cared for more than 250 patients since the program began in July 2022. “The median patient age is 78 and so far, 54.3% is Primary reason for hospitalization: 52% heart failure, 13% COPD, 11% pneumonia, and 9% COVID.”
RESULT
The program was successful in a number of ways.
“Patient satisfaction in the HIYH program is 18 percent higher than in those admitted to a traditional facility,” Gash said. “Patients appreciate being able to stay in the comfort of their home and report feeling better in control of their chronic conditions.
“Rehospitalization rates were reduced by 15% for the HIYH population, with no patients discharged for acute post-acute care, and no incidents of hospital-acquired infections or deaths,” she continued. . “To date, cost and quality-related outcome goals have been achieved, and Saint Luke’s has seen a reduction in ED retention for these patients.”
TIPS FOR OTHER PEOPLE
Gash advises HIYH programs are complex and require a solid management team to ensure oversight and success.
“The partnership with Medically Home is important because it provides the technology needed to manage the carrier network, help establish the necessary protocols and workflows, and define and create a carrier network,” she continued. “Saint Luke is required to use its corporate EHR to ensure clinical transparency, which is important for continuity of care.
“Our experience with HIYH has opened up the possibility of adopting other models of care and reinforced our willingness to innovate,” she concludes.
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