There’s lots of talk about how telemedicine can save health systems money. How about reducing your cost of care for 500 patients by $5 million?
Phoenix-based Banner Health did it in 2014, winning kudos from CMS. In its third year taking part in the Medicare Pioneer Accountable Care Organization program, Banner’s iCare telehealth model saved an estimated 1,890 lives and $109 million. The system’s patients spent 45,861 fewer days in the hospital and 46,435 fewer days in intensive care than had been predicted, according to Deb Dahl, vice president of patient care innovation for the 29-hospital system.
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“We start with higher quality of life and lower cost,” Dahl told attendees at the American Telemedicine Association conference in Minneapolis. “If we have an opportunity to keep people in their own homes … their quality of life is significantly improved and our cost of care significantly reduced.”
The key was to integrate telehealth into the overall healthcare system, Dahl said. In addition to technology, Banner’s iCare model emphasizes collaboration among healthcare providers. When hospital staff who care for iCare-participating patients complete their day shifts, iCare keeps track of their patient overnight, continuing to move them toward discharge as soon as possible, Dahl said.
Failure to keep close tabs on patients living at home with five or more chronic conditions can lead to trouble for them and for the system, which must devote much more time and money to their care, she added.
“You’re missing what happens to them on a daily basis,” Dahl said. “Our work is to be able to intervene before those adverse trends become adverse outcomes.”
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Photo: University of Arizona
