Adviser LeadingAge New York Summer 2015 July 2015 | Page 39

St. Mary’s Heathcare...
trip to the ED or hospital by addressing
a potentially serious health issue early
on. It’s too early to speak definitively
on the impact on hospital utilization but
we are amassing a significant number of
success stories and program-wide data
that indicates a drop in our non-elective
hospitalization rate.
The one area we are working to improve
is our compliance rate, which with more
than an 88 percent participation rate
and well over 60 percent of all calls
receiving full responses, is quite strong.
We are actively outreaching to and
engaging families who do not answer
IVR calls with the desired frequency.

Q. What are your plans for
sustainability of the project?
Jonah: This summer, we will share
initial outcomes with private funders
and managed Medicaid plans to secure
funding beyond the term of the BIP
contract. As this program drives
reductions in avoidable hospital
utilization, it will also drive
healthcare cost savings – an
outcome that will entice managed
care plans to support this
intervention over the long-term.

(Continued from page 37)

Q. If you had it to do over,
what would you have done
differently?

Q. If the State asked you what
it should do next, what would
you say?

Jonah: We really had to create an
entirely new program from scratch.
There isn’t another remote patient
monitoring program out there that is
as versatile as this one. Whereas IVR
has monitored single, targeted patient
groups with success, this intervention
monitors children with a wide range
of diagnoses and conditions via a
single telehealth intervention. We are
proud at how quickly we were able to
mobilize and launch this project – and
at its impressive initial results. Now
that we have clearly defined policies
and protocols in place, we can help
others scale the program more quickly
and effectively.

Jonah: In the fall, when our final
results are in, we will make the case to
the State and other providers that this
IVR intervention should be implemented
more broadly to ensure more frequent,
effective communication between home
care agencies and their patients—and
to ultimately drive improved care and
fewer hospital visits. We are eager to
play a role in making this happen.

Q. What would you recommend
to colleagues given your
experience with this BIP grant?
Jonah: We’d recommend that
colleagues get in touch to learn more
about the intervention. In November,
we’ll be hosting a conference to share a
detailed analysis of program outcomes
and ideas for how this project can be
scaled by peer providers. We
welcome our colleagues to visit
www.stmaryskids.org to learn
more and to register for the
conference when its details are
available later this summer.

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