Overview
Home Health and Hospice Care, Inc. (3HC) has provided quality healthcare to North Carolinians since 1981. 3HC is committed to setting and surpassing the standards of community-based care to provide the right care, at the right place, at the right time.
Challenge
3HC first deployed telehealth and remote patient monitoring (RPM) services in 2009, partnering with Health Recovery Solutions in 2018. Despite lowering hospitalization rates and enhancing patient engagement, 3HC’s telehealth program continued to face common challenges with a skeptical patient population and large service region. 3HC challenges included:
Patient discomfort with unfamiliar devices and additional equipment being placed in their homes, impacting patient enrollment and utilization
Expansive and rural service area, presenting numerous barriers to care delivery including rising cost of in-person services
Increasingly high-risk patient population with a growing need to prepare patients to live independently following discharge from telehealth
Solution
In April 2020, 3HC expanded its telehealth program, offering a mobile app solution to its patients. Initially targeting heart failure patients already equipped with monitoring devices such as blood pressure cuffs, the mobile telehealth platform is now offered to 3HC patients across numerous high-risk patient populations, including heart attack, AFib, cardiac surgery, and joint replacement surgery. With multiple platforms available to patients, 3HC can offer each patient an individualized care solution.
HRS’ PatientConnect Mobile App Helps 3HC Enhance Care By
- Reducing patient hesitancy to enroll in the telehealth program, providing a less intrusive option for patients uncomfortable with having new technology in their home.
- Increasing cost savings, allowing for rapid deployment of telehealth services, fewer inventory management needs, and decreased windshield through virtual patient education.
- Expanding telehealth services to a diverse set of patient populations with varying needs and degrees of care.
- Improving patient engagement as patients learn how to monitor their vital signs and understand their symptoms.
3HC’s nurses have always been a call away, and when I put my numbers in the platform, it helps their team keep an eye on me everyday.
I feel like the program has helped me a great deal... it makes me accountable for my own health.
— 3HC Telehealth Patient
Lower Hospital Readmission Rate than the North Carolina Medicare Average.
Patient Satisfaction Rate
Results
To measure the success of the PatientConnect Mobile program, 3HC evaluates several key metrics: readmission reduction, utilization, patient engagement, and patient satisfaction. Since launching in April, 3HC has seen success across all four key metrics.
For readmission reduction, over six months, 3HC achieved an average hospital readmission rate 29% lower than the North Carolina Medicare average. 3HC also saw a significant increase in patient referrals and enrollments to the telehealth program since launching the mobile program.
Finally, 3HC recorded impressive patient satisfaction rates with a 96% patient satisfaction rate and over 92% of patients stating they feel more supported by their healthcare team while enrolled in telehealth.