Philips selected by Partners HealthCare and Triad HealthCare Network to help reduce costs of at-risk patients

AMSTERDAM and LAS VEGAS, March 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced participation in two programs to help improve medication adherence rates among at-risk, high-cost patient populations. Leveraging the Philips Medication Adherence Solution (PMAS), Lynn Community Health Center (LCHC) of Lynn, Mass. will work with Partners Connected Health of Partners HealthCare [1] to implement a Philips connected in-home medication dispensing solution to help improve treatment plan compliance among patients with mental illness. Triad HealthCare Network of Greensboro, N.C. will also incorporate Philips medication dispensing device in a program designed to improve patient medication adherence among chronic disease patients within the Medicare Advantage population.

As health systems work to better manage high-risk, high-cost patient populations to deliver value-based care successfully, it is critical they have access to the right data with actionable insights. PMAS offers care providers data-driven insights to help optimize medication management and increase patient engagement. By partnering with spencer Health Solutions, Philips offers a connected ecosystem: a monitored in-home dispensing device, pre-packaged, unit-dose medications from mail order and specialty pharmacies, a clinician portal and a caregiver app. The advanced solution provides clinicians, pharmacists and caregivers with daily notifications of non-adherent patients, helping to facilitate delivery of proactive and preventive care, while driving down costs of medical complications related to non-adherence, such as unplanned hospital visits.

"Medication non-adherence costs the U.S. health system over $310 billion every year,[2] and results in hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths annually.[3]Philips data aggregation platforms provide continuous and seamless availability of data and their interpretation to help improve patient outcomes and financial results," said Derek Ross, Business Leader of Population Health Management, Philips. "Participating in these programs with Partners Connected Health and Triad HealthCare Network helps our customers improve medication adherence of their highest-acuity patients, and to deliver better value-based care."

"Patients on complex medication regimens are at a high-risk for being unable to take their medication as prescribed. We have used technology successfully in the past to help such patients manage their medications. This would be our first trial in patients with mental illness, and if successful, would open an exciting opportunity to manage these patients in more effective ways," said Dr. Kamal Jethwani, Senior Director at Partners Connected Health.

"Barriers to optimal health outcomes for our most vulnerable patients remain extensive and persistent," said Emily Johnson, LCHC's Director of Community Outreach. "With this program and our partnership with Partners HealthCare and Philips, our goals are to improve medication adherence rates through connected technology, build a foundation of intensive and ongoing care coordination, and cut costs of unplanned hospital visits."

"Medication non-adherence is a multibillion dollar problem," said James Osborne, MD, FACP, Senior Medical Director for Population Health, Cone Health, Triad HealthCare Network. "Through this program, we hope to discover an effective method to give our complex patients with a history of non-adherence the ability to stay on track easily. In turn, we aim to reduce unnecessary emergency transports and hospitalizations, and more effectively manage the cost of care."

Programs designed to help improve medication adherence
LCHC's program, funded by the Mass Health Policy Commission, will specifically target patients enrolled in MassHealth Primary Care Clinician (PCC) plans who are over 20 years old with a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression. Inadequate medication adherence among this population is one of the main causes for LCHC's inpatient admissions and emergency department visits. Patients with complex mental illness are often on intricate treatment regimens with five or more prescriptions, and the behavioral challenges associated with their illnesses contribute to the likelihood of uncoordinated care and medication non-adherence.

Through a multi-faceted approach of intensive care coordination, clinical pharmacy consultation and Philips connected in-home medication dispenser, LCHC's study aims to demonstrate a reduction in overall healthcare utilization by 15 percent, home health utilization by 40 percent, and both acute inpatient and outpatient utilization by 10 percent by the end of November 2018. By focusing on the highest risk patients, LCHC projects a savings of $1.4 million by the completion of the program.

Separately, Triad HealthCare Network's program aims to enroll patients covered under three leading Medicare Advantage Part D health plans, with the goal of improving medication adherence rates, and consequently, overall patient health. Patients within this particular population tend to be the highest utilizers of their health systems and often live with chronic conditions that require complex prescription regimens.

The success of Triad HealthCare Network's pilot program will be determined by performance indicators such as reduced costs of care and increased rates of medication adherence. Insights generated from PMAS, along with refill histories and pharmacy claims data, will assist healthcare providers and insurers to design a streamlined approach in caring for large, at-risk populations enrolled in the Medicare Advantage Part D health plans.

Philips Population Health Management
PMAS is part of Philips' Population Health Management portfolio, which aims to achieve the quadruple aim of healthcare – better clinical outcome, lower cost, improved patient and staff satisfaction – via integrated solutions that include analytics, remote patient management and virtual care programs, and connected devices to help provide high quality care and manage cost and utilization while improving outcomes and revenue. For more information on Philips full suite of integrated solutions, visit booth #3812 at the 2018 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition taking place March 4-9 at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas, NV. For updates on Philips presence at HIMSS, follow @PhilipsLiveFrom and visit www.philips.com/himss.

[1] The project described is supported by an Innovation Investment Award from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC). The contents of this release are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the HPC.

[2] New England Health Care Institute (NEHI), 2009.

[3] National Council on Patient Information and Education. Accelerating Progress in Prescription Medicine Adherence: The Adherence Action Agenda. A National Action Plan to Address America's "Other Drug Problem." October 2013. http://bemedicinesmart.org

For further information, please contact:

Kathy O'Reilly
Philips Group Press Office
Tel. : +1 978-221-8919                                
E-mail : [email protected] 
Twitter: @kathyoreilly

Silvie Casanova
Philips North America
Tel: +1-978-659-7467
E-mail: [email protected]

About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2017 sales of EUR 17.8 billion and employs approximately 74,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter. 

SOURCE Royal Philips

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