Nascentia Health, formerly VNA Homecare, has considerably expanded their telehealth offerings with Health Recovery Solutions to include population health programs and postpartum care.
Nascentia Health, formerly VNA Homecare, has considerably expanded their telehealth offerings with Health Recovery Solutions (HRS). The telehealth program at Nascentia has evolved from a standard remote patient monitoring program to a comprehensive patient engagement and population health tool. Nascentia Health established their telehealth program in 2005 and partnered with HRS two years ago. Since the telehealth program’s inception, Nascentia has grown from serving an average of 25 patients per day to over 90 patients per day with telehealth.
Telehealth has become the standard of care at Nascentia’s home care division. The clinicians use telehealth with a wide variety of patients in order to facilitate patient independence and self-management. Nascentia’s telehealth program has progressed from serving primarily patients with COPD and CHF to now including any patient who can benefit from learning disease self-management. The program places the emphasis on patient engagement and behavioral change as opposed to strict monitoring.
Patients placed on Nascentia’s telehealth program are provided with 4G tablets loaded with the HRS software. The tablets are paired with Bluetooth devices which allow patients to take their blood pressure, weight, heart rate, and more. The software gives clinicians the ability to monitor patient vitals, respond to risk alerts when patients are at risk for readmission, and conduct nursing visits through video, phone, and text chat all in real time. Nascentia has made extensive use of the video calling feature to create more touch points with patients. Additionally, the biometric monitoring tools are used to teach patients how to become active participants in their disease management. As a result, patients learn to successfully manage their own conditions by the time they are discharged from home health.
Nascentia has recently added postpartum depression management to their wide range of telehealth offerings. Nascentia’s home care agency has a maternal child health division where clinicians specialize in postpartum care. If a woman is identified at risk for postpartum depression during either pre- or post-natal periods, she is referred to the program by the hospital, obstetrician, or nurse practitioner.
Patients placed on the postpartum telehealth program use the HRS tablets to complete weekly depression scales. The telehealth clinicians use HRS’ text messaging and video calling features to respond appropriately and quickly to changes in a patient’s status and a referral is made to a mental health professional when necessary. The program also includes videos on stress management for the patients, as well as education tools that teach family members about postpartum depression.
“At Nascentia Health, we are always seeking innovative and creative ways to better meet the changing needs of our patients. Our telehome care monitoring program has significantly improved the quality of life for our patients and reduced hospitalizations”, says President and CEO of Nascentia Health, Kate Rolf. “This program is the perfect example of how the advances of technology can be used to transform care delivery models.”
Jarrett Bauer, CEO of HRS, adds, “Nascentia’s innovative and progressive telehealth program is representative of their dedication to the advancement of patient care. We are honored to have played a role in their outstanding development and we are excited to be a part of their continued success.”
Read more on Albany Business Review.