TeleHealth Services and UbiCare announce an exclusive business partnership that provides a unique, proven patient education and engagement solution for hospitals, healthcare systems, clinics and ambulatory centers.
Through their proprietary technologies, the companies are able to fully engage patients throughout the care continuum with timely, episode-specific messages sent directly to their personal devices. Patients will receive evidence-based reliable health information from their trusted care provider pushed to them no matter where they are. The message series is sent automatically to the patient, rather than having to search online information or booklets of information that may never be read.
As healthcare shifts to value-based care, all healthcare providers and the vendors who serve them must now incorporate a patient-centered care approach. They must make meaningful use of their EHR data, and effectively focus on providing personalized care plans and education to patients with a distinct emphasis on clinical outcomes.
"This partnership emphasizes the need to reach its combined coverage of more than 9,000,000 patients with the right information at the right time in a way that is actionable for each patient and their caregivers," said UbiCare CEO Betsy Weaver. "Research has shown that providing an automatic, sustained connection, focused on just what the patient needs at that moment, improves HCAHPS and outcomes, and documents the meaningful usage of their EHR along the way."
The partnership launches with an emphasis on programs for two significant populations, each combining episode-specific content with population health messaging and promotion of preventative care services offered by the hospital:
Moms & Families: Women in the U.S. handle 80% of healthcare decisions and set the tone for health in their families. Beyond being a critical time of high anxiety and excitement, pregnancy and early childhood is also a key entry point to a family's healthcare. By focusing on the patient connection as soon as they know they are expecting through their first years as a new mother, hospitals gain lifelong supporters, improve patient satisfaction and experience, engage the patients as more active participants in their care, and benefit from enhanced HCAHPS scores.
Orthopedics – Total Joint Replacement Surgery: With CMS's Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) to officially launch on April 1, 2016, 790 hospitals are mandated to focus on the entire episode of care, bundled payments and the downstream cost of their procedures. All hospitals must pay attention and rethink their own strategies. Supporting and guiding patients throughout this full care episode—before, during and after their surgery—is no longer a "nice to have" for hospitals. Reducing a patient's anxieties by setting expectations, increasing satisfaction and decreasing complications (and, thus, readmissions)—is now a must.
"We are excited to join forces with UbiCare," said TeleHealth President Dan Nathan. "This strategic partnership is designed to help hospitals and clinics across the country enhance patient satisfaction, compliance and outcomes across the care continuum. By adding the new UbiCare Meaningful Use-Certified component to our Tigr@Home Solution, we provide patients with a targeted messaging and education platform throughout specific episodes of care. Plus, we are able to access data to monitor population trends and evaluate efficacy—two critical components in improving patient experience while reducing cost."
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