Austin, Texas (PRWEB) July 26, 2012
In October 1, 2012 hospitals with high readmission rates for AMI, HF, and PN will begin to be penalized by CMS under the Readmission Reduction Program. Although the maximum penalty for the year 2013 will be 1% of Medicare payments, it will continue to increase during the next years until it reaches 3%. CMS defines a readmission as an admission to a subsection (d) hospital within 30 days of a discharge from the same or another subsection (d) hospital. Some of the major causes for hospital re-admissions within 30 days of a discharge are deficient planning of care transitions; failure to educate patients adequately upon discharge; and lack of communication among patients, healthcare providers, and other healthcare organizations. HealthPasskey, a web based application that coordinates care across multiple healthcare settings and engages patient in their health wellness, addresses all these causes significantly reducing hospitals readmission rates.
HealthPasskey includes three secured portals that addresses the needs of patients, physicians, and healthcare organizations such as hospitals. Through the organization portal hospitals’ caregivers, administrators, and other personnel with suitable credentials can book follow up appointments with other providers for patients being discharged. Not only the solution let caregivers book appointments with their colleagues, but if the patient needs transportation the day of the appointment the solution provides an option to schedule this service as well.
“Multiple studies have shown that if hospitals want to experience a minimization on their readmission rates it is crucial to have a follow up plan established before the patient is discharged and that this plan is well understood by the patient and known by the caregivers that will be in charge of his/her follow up plan,” stated Health Innovators Systems CEO, Luis E. Figueroa.
To coordinate care between healthcare settings, HealthPasskey automatically sends the information of the booked appointment to the caregiver Electronic Health Record (EHR) through a Health Level 7 (HL7) message. This allows synchronization of data and enhancement of communication between caregivers and patients. The hospital’s system, the provider’s EHR, and the patient’s Personal Health Record (PHR)- integrated into HealthPasskey patient portal- will have the same information.
Once patients have been discharged from the hospital, they can access their patient portal and learn more about their diagnosis and recent visit to the hospital; cancel, edit, and schedule medical appointments; rate caregivers after every appointment; manage demographics and clinical information, among other. In addition, patients will receive appointment reminders the week before, the day before, and during the day of the appointment via text messages and emails. HealthPasskey engages patients by providing them with easy to use tools that make available preventive medicine 24/7. In addition, the application is available in English and Spanish with just one click. HealthPasskey has been recognized by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) as one of the three winners of the Discharge Follow-Up Appointment Challenge.
Health Innovators Systems has developed a pilot program strategy to implement HealthPasskey in hospitals that would like to significantly reduce readmission rates for AMI, HF, and PN; stimulate provider and patients’ engagement; implement data mining features; establish state of the art analytics; and strengthen patient-providers, providers-organization, and providers-providers inter-connectivity. Hospitals joining the program will benefit from partnership opportunities, substantial discounts, and the opportunity to get involved in the creation and modification of the solutions’ features. To join the pilot program contact Mrs. Luissette Figueroa at 254.247.0450.
To learn more about HealthPasskey visit Health Innovators Systems website . Also, watch the Discharge Follow-Up Appointment Video.