Covenant Health advances hospital-at-home program
Covenant Health on Tuesday expanded its high-acuity hospital-at-home program in Knoxville, Tennessee.
WHY IT MATTERS
A suite of electronics allows patients at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center and now Parkwest Medical Center with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, cellulitis and more to recover at home, according to a local WATE ABC6 report.
Covenant Health’s Advanced Care at Home program provides in-home hospital services, virtual care and remote monitoring to manage hospital patients’ medications, laboratory services, imaging, IV treatments, oxygen and rehabilitation therapies at home, typically requiring three to 10 days needed. at a hospital, according to the health system’s website.
Qualifying conditions may also include heart failure, asthma, pneumonia, soft tissue infections, gastroenteritis, or dehydration.
“Patients at home – they recover better, their satisfaction is better,” says Dr. John Busigin, medical director of the program.
During a demonstration launch at Parkwest Medical Center, Busigin explained how Medically Home equipment – including a WiFi router, an iPad and a cell phone – allows patients to measure their vital signs, communicate with their care teams and more, and assist in personally facilitating visits from community paramedics and healthcare professionals.
“That’s what’s driving all of this: the availability of this technology and better patient care,” he said.
As many as 20-30% of patients in the Knoxville health care system could receive virtual care through the program.
Patient Ron Slone of Farragut, Tennessee, said he was excited to be home and that supplies for his home hospital were ready before he was transported back.
“The food is better and I can be with my family,” Slone said.
THE BIG TREND
Due to a lack of specialists in rural areas, Covenant Health has implemented a number of telemedicine applications since the pandemic.
From individual and group behavioral therapy to delivering services through remote technologies for chronic care management, telehealth has helped the health care system achieve care goals, several leaders said.
For hospitalized patients, telehealth has also expanded critical care services and tele-ICU implementation in the East Tennessee region, Chris Skinner, vice president of clinical informatics, said. Healthcare IT news in November.
Tele-ICU offers a partnership with the bedside team and the organization has seen improvements in ventilator management, quality of care and length of stay in the ICU, he said.
“The future of medicine will combine more robust virtual care services with innovative advances in healthcare technology, and we plan to continue to build out our current infrastructure to meet future demands,” said Dr. Mandy Halford, senior vice president and chief medical informatics officer. officer at Covenant Health, added.
ON THE RECORD
Patients “have fewer infections, fewer hospital readmissions and so their outcomes are actually better,” Busigin said in the ABC6 report.
Andrea Fox is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.