Valley Home Care, part of Ridgewood, N.J.-based Valley Health System, lowered its hospital readmission rate for heart failure patients through the use of a telehealth program.
Valley Home Care provided cardiac patients with tablets and remote care software from Health Recovery Solutions, including mobile apps and Bluetooth biometric monitoring services.
The software comprises disease-specific tools for each patient such as educational videos, medication information and video visits. Through the telehealth program, clinicians are able to access real-time case management details and patients are encouraged to be more active in their care plans.
Four-hundred and sixteen high-risk patients used the program during the first six months of 2017, achieving a readmission rate of 8.2 percent. By contrast, the readmission rate benchmark for New Jersey state is 16.9 percent, while the national benchmark is 16.7 percent, according to CMS.