Humana is partnering with Philips on a remote patient monitoring program that will equip selected Medicare Advantage members living with CHF with a telemedicine kit to improve care management at home.
Payers are starting to take a serious look at remote patient monitoring programs in an effort to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs for members with complex medical concerns.
Humana – long an advocate for telehealth and mHealth interventions – today announced a partnership with Philips to launch what it calls a “remote member monitoring” pilot for select Medicare Advantage members with severe congestive heart failure.
“Our goal is to continue to find ways to help our Medicare Advantage members stay longer and safer in their homes,” Susan Diamond, president of Humana’s Home Business segment, said in a press release. “We believe our work with Philips will help offer our members and their caregivers more in-home support and help them to stay engaged and focused on prevention.”
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Propelled by reimbursement possibilities through Medicare and Medicaid, RPM programs are slowly gaining traction in the healthcare provider space as health systems look for new ways to improve care management of patients in their homes, including those who’ve been discharged from a hospital or who have chronic care needs.
Now payers are joining the action, and seeing the benefits of improved outcomes and reduced costs through better monitoring. Such programs could conceivably take a chunk out of the estimated $30 billion spent each year on members living with CHF.
In its pilot, Humana is equipping select MA members living with CHF with a telemedicine kit that includes an interactive tablet and wireless devices including a weight scale, blood pressure monitor and pulse oximeter. The devices synch with the tablet to allow members to manage their daily health needs and share data in real time with care managers.
“This data will be utilized to support Humana care teams in making informed and proactive care decisions with the pilot group in an effort to help to reduce unnecessary readmissions,” the company said in the press release.
A second pilot program, meanwhile, will arm select members with mHealth technology designed to alert care providers when they fall – and to help care providers reduce the risk of a fall by working with members to improve their health and wellness.
In this program, select members will be given the Philips Lifeline medical alert service, including AutoAlert fall detection technology. The platform gives members round-the-clock access to trained care specialists who can dispatch help when it’s needed and help identify early intervention opportunities to reduce the risk of a fall.
According to Humana officials, research has shown that 57 percent of Medicare patients are released from the hospital without any post-discharge monitoring, contributing to the estimated annual $17 billion in expenses for unnecessary or preventable hospital readmissions. The pilot program’s goal is to identify those members most at risk of a readmission within the crucial 30-day period after discharge and help them through that period.
Source: mHealth Intelligence