To reduce unnecessary hospitalizations, many skilled nursing facilities have considered having primary care providers assess patients at bedside for changes in their condition. However, these providers are not always available on-site.
Telemedicine may prove a successful way to address this issue, according to a study published in The American Journal of Managed Care.
Researchers reviewed the clinical and financial outcomes of an after-hours on-demand telemedicine service implemented at a 365-bed skilled nursing facility in New York City in March 2015. During the first year of the program, off-site providers evaluated 313 patients.
Of the patients who used the telemedicine service during the first year, 259 were treated on-site at the facility, including 91 who avoided hospitalizations and 54 who were later transferred to a hospital. The researchers estimated the associated cost savings to Medicare and other payers exceeded $1.55 million.
The researchers extrapolated Medicare would save $500,000 each year for an average 120-bed facility that implemented a similar program.
"Use of a dedicated virtual after-hours physician coverage service in an SNF demonstrated a significant reduction in avoidable hospitalizations," the study authors concluded.