SANTA CLARA, CA — (Marketwired) — 12/03/13 — Citing a long-term goal of lowering preventable readmissions for Medicare patients, the , a non-profit hospital and health system trade association, and announced today a partnership aimed at helping care teams improve coordination of safer and more efficient care transitions for patients. As technology provider for the Santa Clara County Acute Care to Skilled Nursing Facility Collaborative Program (AC2SNF), CareInSync will use its platform to deploy the first-of-its-kind Mobile Care Navigation Network (MCNN) connecting Santa Clara County hospitals and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) beginning first quarter 2014.
“In Santa Clara County, recent data reveals that 29 percent of the Medicare patient 30-day readmissions come from SNFs,” said Jo Coffaro, regional vice president of the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California. “Adults, especially seniors, oftentimes risks poor handoff coordination and information exchange as they transition from hospitals to SNFs. The new Mobile Care Navigation Network will allow us to develop a collaboration plan with skilled nursing facilities that ensures our most vulnerable and fragile patients receive the highest quality, evidence-based care to avoid complications and unplanned readmissions. CareInSync-s Carebook evidence-based platform is integral in making this close working relationship possible.”
For the AC2SNF program-s first phase, CareInSync-s Carebook mobile care collaboration platform will power the MCNN linking three hospitals — and in San Jose — to nine local SNFs. The AC2SNF collaborative will use the mobile network to create, capture, deploy and monitor best practices and evidence-based interventions to improve patient care transitions across the three facilities.
Moreover, healthcare professionals at Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara and O-Connor acute care facilities will access the Carebook solution on iPads and iPhones to form patient-centered care teams, securely message and share information as they manage patient care transitions in real time. The second phase will aim at expanding the MCNN county-wide to encompass an additional 10 hospitals and 30 SNFs.
The AC2SNF program is funded by the Health Trust and managed by the Hospital Council. , a Mountain View-based community hospital, will serve as an advisor for the program, having created a robust readmission prevention program using advanced technologies, such as telepresence, that resulted in a decrease in seven-day readmissions over a one-year period.
“Over the last year, we have gained significant insight into how the use of advanced technologies can improve patient care and prevent unnecessary readmissions,” said Cheryl Reinking, chief clinical operations/chief nursing officer, El Camino Hospital. “We look forward to serving as an advisor as the AC2SNF program is rolled out and helping other healthcare organizations achieve their readmission reduction goals.”
“We-re proud of our role in supporting the Hospital Council-s first step of a long purposeful journey to connect hospitals and skilled nursing facilities using our innovative and affordable mobile platform,” said Steve Curd, President and CEO of CareInSync. “Current technology tools lack the ability to enable real-time, bi-directional, patient-centric communication among all caregivers for a particular patient. Yet many adverse events and errors that lead to readmissions can be traced back to poorly handled care transitions such as discharge from a hospital and the transfer to an SNF. Carebook vastly improves communication among all members of the patient-s care team across multiple facilities, helps them deliver better patient outcomes as well as tangible financial benefits.”
“Skilled nursing facilities typically have limited technology infrastructures,” said Siva Subramanian, COO and founder of CareInSync. “As patient care becomes more complex, under new value-based reimbursement models more patients will likely be transferred to SNFs in the future because it will make financial sense, plus the facilities have the ability to provide the level of individual care needed. The emphasis on improving and making the continued care process seamless and at lower risk will become a priority.”
The Hospital Council of Northern and Central California is a nonprofit hospital and health system trade association established in 1961, representing 183 hospitals in 50 of California-s 58 counties — from Kern County to the Oregon border. The Hospital Council-s membership includes hospitals and health systems ranging from small, rural hospitals to large, urban medical centers, representing more than 38,000 licensed beds.
CareInSync offers software solutions that improve communication between disparate healthcare providers via a real-time, mobile, collaboration platform. As the first and only deployed healthcare mobile solution of its kind, Carebook is a secure, HIPAA-compliant, evidence-based, care coordination platform connecting physicians, case managers, nurses and other aftercare professionals in real-time. CareInSync is helping healthcare organizations across the country decrease readmissions, improve operational efficiencies, reduce costs and manage safe and timely patient care transitions. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, CareInSync-s existing investors include Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, HealthTech Capital, California Health Care Foundation, and Hearst Business Media. For more information please visit: .
Angela Jenkins
Amendola Communications for CareInSync
720.859.6930
Jo Coffaro
Hospital Council of Northern and Central California
916.296.7363
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