WebVMC’s Telehealth System Helps Piedmont Hospital Reduce Heart Patient Readmissions By 23 Percent

The Fuqua Heart Center of Atlanta at Piedmont Hospital, a recognized leader in cardiovascular care, announced a dramatic improvement in patient outcomes and reduced hospital readmissions as a result of their utilization of the RemoteNurse™ technology from WebVMC, a leading provider of telehealth technology.

Hospital readmissions 30 days after discharge for heart patients in the telehealth program were 23 percent lower than for patients not in the program, a difference of a 1.4 percent readmission rate versus a 6 percent readmission rate. Both figures are significantly below the national average of 20 percent for hospital readmissions for heart patients 30 days after discharge.

The lower readmission rates for telehealth patients were sustained over time, with only four percent of the telehealth patients requiring hospitalization at 90 days post-discharge as compared to 11 percent of patients not in the telehealth program.

The heart center initially purchased 70 RemoteNurse units and installed them in various home locations, enabling the nurses to monitor patients remotely. Patients and their caregivers recorded their health status each day. This information was immediately accessible to the nurses monitoring those patients. In addition to improving the patients’ health status, the telehealth program helped the nursing staff be more efficient and generated cost savings for the hospital through better staffing efficiency, decreased readmissions and reduced visits to the emergency room.

In addition to these positive healthcare outcomes, 100 percent of the patients surveyed rated the program as excellent to good. All patients reported that the RemoteNurse was easy to use and helped them manage or improve their health. Many commented on the feelings of reassurance and self-empowerment that the system provided.

Physicians at the hospital appreciate the improved outcomes and dedicated care their patients receive.

“Overall, the hospital is extremely pleased with the results of the program,” said Mark Silverman, M.D., Fuqua Chief of Cardiology at Piedmont Hospital. “This is one of the major programs the hospital has added. The patients I send to the Heart Failure Resource Center are clearly doing much better and staying out of the hospital which is important to the patient and the hospital.”

Heart Failure Resource Center

Hospital Recidivism

5-1-2005 thru 4-30-2006

 

DRG 127 – Heart Failure & Shock

Volume

Numberof 30-day Inpatient Heart Failure Readmissions

30-day Readmission Rate

Numberof 90-day Inpatient Heart Failure Readmissions

90-day Readmission Rate

 

Piedmont Hospital

717 

42 

6%

80 

11%

Fuqua Heart Failure Resource Center

138 

2 

1.4%

5 

4%

National Read-mission Rate

20%1

 

1 Aghababian RV. Acutely decompensated heart failure: opportunities to improve care and outcomes in the emergency department. Rev Cardiovasc Med 2002;3(suppl 4):S3-9.

The pioneering program began in 2004 when Fuqua Heart Center began community outreach to heart failure patients in an effort to improve patient care and reduce chronic readmissions through the emergency department. The program goals were to increase the geographical reach of services, serve more patients, and increase the intensity of services for high risk, chronically-ill patients.

“We were looking for a program that would be user-friendly, accessible and cost effective for the nursing staff,” said Jennie Mattia, RN, manager of cardiovascular quality and heart failure disease management at the Fuqua Heart Center. “When we saw a demonstration of WebVMC’s Web-based program and RemoteNurse monitor unit, we were immediately impressed with its ease of use for patients and staff, and its connectivity that made information available anytime from any PC and even notified our nurses about readings that indicated a potential problem.”

“Piedmont Hospital’s renowned Fuqua Heart Center and its commitment to innovation and the highest quality of patient care made it the perfect place to demonstrate the value of our software-based telehealth system in improving the quality of care for heart patients,” said Bill Behnke, chief development officer for WebVMC.

Added Scott Sheppard, president and chief technology officer of WebVMC, “The HFRC needed a system that was cost-effective, easy to use, and Web-based to allow access to data anytime, anywhere. Our product was specifically designed to meet those criteria and other unique needs that hospitals demand.”

About WebVMC:

WebVMC provides virtual healthcare technology using the Internet to manage care for the person with a chronic illness, connecting the patient, caregiver and clinician for 24/7 disease management from any location, in multiple healthcare delivery systems — home care, hospitals and assisted living facilities. With innovative capabilities, such as audio tracks, touch-screen access and instant messaging, WebVMC’s products are user-friendly, comprehensive solutions that cost-effectively manage patients with chronic illness for better health status and better quality of life. For more information about WebVMC, visit www.webvmc.com, or contact Bill Behnke, 210-240-9400, billbehnke@webvmc.com.

About the Fuqua Heart Center of Atlanta at Piedmont Hospital:

The Fuqua Heart Center of Atlanta at Piedmont Hospital, a recognized leader in comprehensive cardiovascular care, is located on the campus of Piedmont Hospital, a 458-bed tertiary care facility offering all major medical, surgical and diagnostic services. The Fuqua Heart Center offers an expansive range of cardiac services including prevention, diagnostic testing, cardiac catheterization and intervention, electrophysiology, adult cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, rehabilitation and cutting-edge research. Nationally accredited programs in cardiac rehabilitation, echocardiography, peripheral vascular and heart failure are available to patients.

About Piedmont Hospital:

Celebrating a century of better care, Piedmont Hospital is a 458-bed acute tertiary care facility offering all major medical, surgical and diagnostic services. Piedmont is a recipient of the 2007 and 2006 Distinguished Hospital Award for Patient SafetyTM according to HealthGrades (a leading healthcare ratings company), as well as one of the nation’s Most Wired hospitals in the 2005 and 2004 100 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study. The hospital is also a recipient of a JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) Gold Seal of Approval™ for healthcare quality.

Piedmont Hospital is a member of Piedmont Healthcare (PHC), a not-for-profit. Piedmont Healthcare also includes Piedmont Fayette Hospital, a 106-bed community hospital in Fayetteville, one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals® for the past three years, and one of the nation’s Most Wired hospitals; Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, a 35-bed community hospital in Jasper, named 2006 Hospital of the year by the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals; the Piedmont Hospital Foundation; the Piedmont Physicians Group, with more than 70 primary care physicians in a network of 21 offices throughout metro Atlanta; and Piedmont Clinic, a 496-member physician network. For more information, visit www.piedmonthospital.org.