Cerner’s population health management platform is now being used in a disease management program at Truman Medical Centers.
Cerner has joined forces with Truman Medical Centers in Kansas City to launch comprehensive disease management programs using remote patient monitoring technology.
The initiative will utilize algorithms configured in the Cerner population health management platform, HealtheIntent, to help TMC clinicians better engage patients in their own health management and improve outcomes among patients with high-risk chronic conditions.
HealtheIntent identifies groups of TMC patient populations with specific conditions such as diabetes and chronic heart failure and monitors their health conditions and vital signs outside of the hospital setting.
Patients part of the program receive remote patient monitoring kits with medical devices connected to their individual patient EHRs to enable a connection to HealtheIntent. This connection allows care teams at TMC to keep a close eye on patients and respond to potential problems as quickly as possible.
“We joined this strategic relationship with Cerner to research and develop opportunities to improve the health of our population, and we are proud to launch this pilot program,” said TMC Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy and Information Officer Mitzi Cardenas.
“Diabetes and chronic heart failure are not only common, life-threatening and costly diseases, they are also extremely preventable,” she continued. “Our goal is to encourage participants to more actively manage their care and provide our care teams with the tools and opportunities to intervene with treatment, ultimately working to positively impact health conditions and prevent readmissions.”
Cerner’s population health management platform gathers and analyzes patient health data and sends automated notifications of unusual data patterns in real-time to TMC care teams, who can then intervene with the necessary treatment plan to remedy any alarming health issues.
“Engagement is a critical piece of chronic condition care management, especially after a patient has left the hospital,” said Director of Health Home Primary Care at TMC Sonja Dicken. “The introduction of HealtheIntent into our monitoring workflow has saved our staff time by facing up important information quickly and making scheduling follow-up interactions easier.”
The new disease management program could lead to similar efforts at other hospitals in the future.
TMC and Cerner will evaluate health metrics of participating patients at six- and nine-month intervals to get a sense of whether their health outcomes have improved as a result of the program.
If the results are positive, the team will expand the remote patient monitoring program further at TMC and other hospitals around the country.
The health system’s relationship with the EHR vendor began in October of 2015 when the two began a strategic relationship aimed at improving the state of healthcare in Kansas City.
The partnership called KC one Health Innovation Alliance aims to lower costs, enhance the quality of patient care, and improve patient safety at hospitals throughout the city.
“While providers deliver care in traditional health care settings, health crises or situations typically occur outside of this setting, like their home, workplace or in the community,” said Senior Vice President of Population Health at Cerner Ryan Hamilton. “We’re proud to use our technology to engage in proactive care management and provide the solutions and support that participants need to manage their health.”
This latest initiative marks a steady trend of positive developments for Cerner in 2017.
A recent KLAS market share report revealed Cerner provided EHR technology for the highest number of critical access hospitals in 2016.
Additionally, KLAS data reflected Cerner appeals especially to small hospitals due to the wide variety of service offerings the vendor makes available, including population health management and remote monitoring solutions.
Cerner could come away with another big victory if VA chooses the vendor to provide its commercial EHR.
While no official decision is expected until July, Cerner is rumored to be the most likely pick for the job.
Date:May 18, 2017