Creating Change through Remote Patient Care Management ... Profile.pdfAddressing Cost-Quality-Access...

Short-Term Impact:

In less than a year, preliminary re-

sults indicate the Care Innovations™

Guide platform is an effective and

valuable element of the Humana

Cares CHF care management

program:

80% adherence rate by

members who opted to have

daily biometric monitoring

94% of members said the

Guide was easy to use, 90%

said they felt more connected

to their nurse, and 93% would

recommend it to their friends

Positive anecdotal feedback

from members that the Guide

has helped them develop positive

lifelong habits and better manage

their chronic conditions

Enabled Humana to reach CHF

patients in remote areas that may

have otherwise gone unmonitored

for long periods of time

Solution:

Humana Cares developed

an extensive support

program for CHF patients

in 33 states, which included

daily biometric monitoring

and education with the

Intel-GE Care Innovations™

Guide platform. The

program was designed

to affect behavior change

and create lifelong habits

among CHF patients who

have had recent hospital-

izations or ER visits.

Need:

Humana, like most health

insurance companies,

searched for the best

way to reduce hospital

readmission rates and

the associated costs for

congestive heart failure

(CHF) patients. Humana

needed to increase member

self-management of CHF

in order to improve health,

reduce catastrophic events,

and lower costs.

Profile:

Humana Cares*, a

national division of

Humana*, provides

support and customized

coaching for more than

160,000 older adults with

chronic illnesses, their

families, and caregivers

across the country.

Creating Change through Remote Patient Care Management Addressing Cost-Quality-Access with Innovative Telehealth Technology

The Future:

Humana Cares plans to

evaluate the success of

the program by measuring

ROI, admission and read-

mission rates for members

with CHF, as well as ER visits

for members with CHF. 

Lowering Health Care Costs through Technology-Enabled Disease Management and Behavior Change

Humana recognized the potential to dramatically improve the health

status of members with congestive heart failure (CHF). Based on lessons

learned from other programs, Humana focused on facilitating long-term

behavior change through more personalized care. If the company could

achieve this, Humana knew their members would experience fewer

readmissions and lower complication rates, ultimately improving quality

of life and reducing overall health care costs.

Humana Cares developed an extensive support program for 2,000 CHF

patients. In addition to benefiting from a comprehensive disease

management program and social services support that addressed an

array of challenges, CHF patients participated in daily biometric monitor-

ing and education with the Guide. Daily weight and blood pressure

measurements were automatically sent to a Humana Cares nurse who

could easily assess the health status of all patients through the Intel-GE

Care Innovations™ Guide - Virtual Care Suite and identify any abnormalities,

such as a patient gaining three pounds in one

day. The nurse could then contact the patient,

set up a videoconference using the Guide, and

discuss why the change may have occurred.

Did the patient run out of medication, or fail to

recognize the sodium content was high in his

last meal? Moments like these encourage what

Humana Cares calls “just in time” learning

opportunities, which are extremely effective in producing long-term

behavioral change. Because Humana Cares nurses intervene at the first

sign of trouble, patients gain a personal understanding of which habits

exacerbate CHF symptoms and how they can overcome these obstacles.

The Guide is customized to meet the individual needs of the patients and

their treatment plans. Humana Cares coordinates and shares data with

each patient’s physician, allowing clinicians to view measurement reports.

This is a vital link in the information chain that has the potential to lead to

better long-term health and lower long-term health care costs.

“ Through the use of the technology, we get to do a lot more, a lot quicker, and it’s exciting because it represents, in real time, an opportunity to reach into the home.”

— Michael McCallister CEO Humana

Members typically participate in the program for six to nine months, at

which point they meet criteria for better managing their condition and

living a healthier lifestyle. Once Humana sees evidence that patients have

learned how to manage their conditions, patients “graduate” from the

program and Humana personalizes the Guide for another CHF patient.

Recognizing the Potential to Reach More Patients

During the six month deployment period,

1,000 Guide units were deployed in 33 states.

Now, CHF patients, even those living in remote

areas, can receive personalized care and support

in their homes, making it easier for these patients

to comply with their treatment plan and manage

their chronic condition.

The overall goal of the program is to increase

patient self-management to improve health,

reduce hospitalizations and ER visits, and lower

health care costs. While it’s too early to quanti-

tatively measure these results, Humana Cares is

optimistic about the program’s effectiveness. High patient adherence

and satisfaction rates indicate patients like the Guide and find it easy to

use. Equally important, Humana Cares nurses report that the valuable, real-time information provided by the Guide enhances the effectiveness

of their patient interactions.

Humana will fully evaluate the success of the program including

ROI, admission and readmission rates for CHF patients, as well as ER

visits for CHF patients. In addition, they will

measure post-participation weight monitoring,

member adherence, member satisfaction, device

and peripheral replacement rates, and staff satis-

faction, as well as overall program design. If the

program proves to be successful, the company may

launch similar programs for patients with other chronic conditions.

“ It’s like having a nurse live with you.” — Guide User

“The tools that the Guide can provide people are really incredible. We’ve seen dramatic changes in our CHF patients. They’re learning life long behavior changes through the ‘just in time’ educa-tion the Guide allows us to do. Helping people self-manage their CHF with the support of our nurses is impacting this patient population tremendously.”

— Jean Bisio President Humana Cares

The Guide platform is designed to help address the many challenges that accompany chronic conditions. It is a comprehensive, remote health monitoring and management solution to help health care organizations and insurance providers more efficiently extend their services into homes, while engaging patients to create lasting lifestyle changes.

For more information, please visit www.careinnovations.com/guide.

The Care Innovations™ Guide requires an Internet connection to enable communications with the patient’s care team and back-end data hosting. The Guide is intended for use by patients who are able to operate the Guide in accordance with its instructions for use and are under the guidance of a healthcare professional. The Guide is not intended for emergency medical communications or real-time patient monitoring. Available for over the counter use.

Copyright © 2012 Intel-GE Care Innovations LLC. All rights reserved. Care Innovations, the Care Innovations logo, and the Caring Icon logo are trademarks of Intel-GE Care Innovations LLC. Intel and the Intel corporate logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and/or other countries, used under license. GE and the GE Monogram are trademarks of General Electric Company in the United States and/or other countries, used under license.

*All other third-party trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

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