Encompass Home Health & Hospice Leverages Medalogix to Reduce Risks of Avoidable Transfers
by more than 50 percent
Medalogix predictive analytics and automated calling solution help meet value-based care requirements’
Encompass Home Health & Hospice, a national leader in home health and hospice, decreased the risk of avoidable transfers by more than 50 percent after leveraging Medalogix Touch, a predictive modeling and automated calling solution. This benefit is consistent with peer-reviewed results achieved by other providers using Medalogix Touch. The technology is also helping Encompass meet the needs of value-based purchasing and serve its Bundled Payment for Care Improvement (BPCI) populations.
“As the industry shifts from volume to value we want to ensure we maintain the highest care quality while improving efficiency,” said April Anthony, Encompass’s CEO. “Touch allows us to deploy more touchpoints with the right patients at the right time, which ensures our patients receive the utmost in care quality while our agency works to meet the needs of value-based care. It’s a win win.”
In March of 2015 Encompass directors initiated a Medalogix Touch pilot as a solution to better manage their entire BPCI population. Since Touch can monitor and call patients beyond the 60-day care episode, Encompass leaders viewed the tool as a solution that could help ensure care continuity—especially for those patients in a 90-day bundle. After success with the pilot, Encompass directors further deployed the solution amid value-based purchasing.
Touch analyzes patient data to identify and rank patients who could benefit from additional touchpoints—those who are at risk of transferring off census within 30 days. It then helps direct clinicians to act upon these predictive insights by automating touchpoints with its interactive voice response (IVR) component and or by identifying patients who could benefit from face-to-face visits through risk ranking or concerning call alerts.
While Encompass deployed high-risk calls prior to Touch, they did not have a system to predict which patients were in need and then rank them accordingly.
“We didn’t have the analytics in place that helped to rank these patients with higher needs, which limited our ability to measure and compare patient cohorts. With Touch, we know we’re calling the right patients. Medalogix has helped us narrow our focus and improve our productivity,” said Janice Riggins, Encompass’s vice president of clinical transformation.
Further, prior to leveraging Touch’s IVR system, Encompass field clinicians were responsible for the high-risk calls, which took away from face-to-face time with patients.
“Patients love it because they’re getting the attention they need and clinicians love it because it’s relieving them of calls and freeing them to spend their time doing what they do best—caring for patients.”
“Another benefit to IVR is its ability to help address non clinical needs,” said Dan Hogan, Medalogix’s founder and CEO. “Some patients are not in need of clinical intervention but in need of behavioral and social interaction. An automated call can help with that. There’s a peace of mind associated with knowing you’re going to be checked in on at a cadence that’s appropriate for you.”
Encompass uses Touch in conjunction with Medalogix’s two other analytics-based solutions, Bridge and Nurture. The technology trifecta is helping Encompass achieve clinical transformation and ensure patients at varying points in their care journeys receive the right care at the right time.