Health

RPM brings 30-day mortality to near-zero for cardiac bypass


In the past, at Atrium Health’s Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute, as in many other hospitals, cardiac patients after surgery were discharged with a vague understanding of what recovery entails. Uncertainty can lead to dire preventable outcomes and readmissions for problems that could have been managed in the outpatient setting.

PROBLEM

Anxiety is common in patients preparing for heart surgery. Patients prefer to stay at home, but recovering from invasive surgery without expert guidance can be intimidating and dangerous.

Dr John Frederick, chief of cardiovascular surgery at Atrium Health’s Sanger Health Institute of Cardiology and Cardiology, said providers need reliable, up-to-date data to make decisions after surgery, but collecting Collecting that data and turning it into insights can be a chore. .

“Collecting biometric data prior to remote monitoring means navigating nurses must rely on patients to manually record and report information,” he notes.

PROPOSE

Health IT provider Carium has proposed adding a care experience platform to Sanger Heart & Vascular Perfect Care to provide a complete ecosystem for virtual care.

“The care experience platform will ensure patients stay connected to their care team, and that care team stays connected to invaluable patient data to improve clinical decision making,” explains Frederick. .

“A thoughtful change management strategy is critical to ensuring a smooth and successful deployment, transition, adoption, and backing of a new virtual care platform.”

Dr. John Frederick, Atrium Health’s Sanger . Heart and Vascular Institute

“The platform will also help care teams map their recovery journey, establish enrollment dates and milestones that people can look forward to,” he added.

The care experience platform has promised to:

Allows vendors to spend less time on administrative tasks.

Strengthen the patient/provider relationship.

Improve patient experience.

Create a steady stream of biometric data between patient and provider.

Helps rural patients and those lacking support networks maintain important connections with their care team.

MEET CHALLENGES ONLY

Patients download the Carium app and receive a digital health kit that includes a connected blood pressure cuff, weight scale, pulse oximeter, and Google Fitbit to measure activity and sleep patterns.

As their care team builds stronger relationships with patients using the care experience platform, biosensors collect real-time, actionable data they use. to provide continuous information for evidence-based clinical decision-making.

“The program provides preoperative education, optimization, and a strong connection between the patient and their clinical navigating nurse, which persists until discharge,” explains Frederick. and more. “This relationship not only creates a more empathetic and satisfying work environment – nurses use important family details, patient schedules and moods to personalize treatment.” their treatment and enhance the patient experience.

He continued: “The platform automatically displays key insights and signaling thresholds, eliminates blind spots in the continuum of care, makes it easier for the care team to know when to intervene, and when not”.

He added: “The provider-patient relationship is no longer limited by hospital walls – people can recover from complex heart surgery at home, while maintaining vital virtual connections with the clinicians they depend on.

“Clinical nurses see more patients taking an active role in their recovery, which translates to outcomes and satisfaction,” he notes. “They like to share their metrics and often use monitoring devices after the 90-day observation period.”

RESULT

Atrium Health’s Perfect Care Program streamlines operations, benefiting patient outcomes and profits. The initiative is delivering impressive results for patients and health systems, Frederick reports. He said the organization is providing better care at a lower cost and reducing unnecessary trips to the hospital.

“Thanks to this program, Sanger Heart & Vascular has reduced hospital admissions by 40 per cent and average length of stay per day,” he said. “The clinical results are equally impressive. The 30-day mortality rate for coronary artery bypass grafting is about 0.5% system-wide, but that number is close to zero for patients in virtual care program.”

According to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the national average is 2.5%.

The level of interaction between the patient and the care team increases because the patient knows that help is always a call or text message.

“Meanwhile, providers report improved patient relationships and more reliable access to relevant, timely patient data, helping to show insights when and where they need to be,” said Frederick. “Atrium Health has expanded its platform of Carium care experiences across weight, stroke, diabetes and hypertension programs, and is exploring wider rollout.”

TIPS FOR OTHER PEOPLE

“Implementing virtual care technology can be a complex and difficult process – starting small and gradually expanding and optimizing the deployment can be a more efficient approach,” Frederick advises. “By starting with a smaller project, organizations can identify any problems and solve them before deploying the technology on a larger scale.

He continued: “A thoughtful change management strategy is critical to ensuring the smooth and successful deployment, transition, adoption, and backing of a new virtual care platform. “The fear of change is real, especially when it affects processes, workflows, and behaviors.”

Elements of a strong change management strategy, he concludes, can include communication, collaboration, education, and identifying the right “first followers” ​​who can confidently lead the way. colleagues and groups.

Follow Bill’s HIT coverage on LinkedIn: Bill Siwicki
Email him: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS Media.

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