Six-State Health System to Deploy Technology, Services to Reduce Avoidable Hospital Readmissions, Improve Patient Satisfaction

RICHMOND, Va. and DALLAS, Nov. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- inHEALTH and Phytel announced today that Bon Secours Health System (BSHSI) has selected a combination of population health management, patient engagement and care management technologies and services to help solve one of healthcare's most pressing problems – how to ensure that discharged patients get the care and attention they need without being unnecessarily readmitted to the hospital. 

Bon Secours Health System is a $3.4 billion not-for-profit Catholic health system sponsored by Bon Secours Ministries with 19 hospitals and numerous other facilities in Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, South Carolina and Virginia. Under its agreement with inHEALTH, BSHSI's six local systems will be able to choose from a combination of inHEALTH and Phytel solutions to help coordinate the care of patients discharged from its hospitals and emergency departments.

"Patients who are recently discharged from the hospital or ED need careful attention to ensure they take medications as directed and report any health problems they may have," said Michael Spine, senior vice president of business development & managed care for Bon Secours Health System. "This program with inHEALTH and Phytel gives our facilities the choice of tools they need to ensure discharged patients are not readmitted for the same problem unnecessarily. In the process, it will help Bon Secours transition from today's fee-for-service reimbursement system to one that is better aligned with our goal of keeping our patients healthy after they return home."

The new offering, called Compass™, couples Phytel Transition™ post-discharge patient engagement technology with inHEALTH's centralized care management contact center. Phytel Transition's automated communications will contact discharged patients within 72 hours of leaving the hospital or ED and ask them to complete a basic health assessment confirming their understanding of their discharge instructions and medications. Phytel then will automatically escalate those patients who have questions or health issues to inHEALTH nurses, social workers and care managers for one-on-one counseling.

The Compass program builds upon a 19-year partnership between the two that has generated millions of dollars in savings while helping to improve patients' health and satisfaction with their care providers.

"We are thrilled that Bon Secours Health System has elected to deploy the Compass program in their multiple markets, allowing localized choices that are right for those facilities but with a common infrastructure to standardize the process of engaging discharged patients," said Michael Matthews, CEO of inHEALTH. "Our partnerships with Bon Secours since 1995 and with Phytel since 2009 have driven improvements in patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes.  Our post-discharge programs have also generated significant downstream revenue from follow-up visits that have likewise helped thousands of patients with chronic disease get the care they need to stay healthy."

Steve Schelhammer, CEO of Phytel, added, "To improve patient care and prevent unnecessary admissions, it is essential for hospitals to engage with at-risk patients after discharge. The combination of Phytel patient engagement technology and inHEALTH's outsourced care management support will enable Bon Secours' local systems to scale their post-discharge communication efforts to the population level for the first time."

About BSHSI:
Bon Secours Health System, Inc. based in Marriottsville, Maryland, is a $3.4 billion dollar not-for-profit Catholic health system that owns, manages or joint ventures 19 acute care, 5 long term care, 4 assisted living, 6 retirement communities/senior housing, 14 home care and hospice services, and other facilities, primarily on the East Coast. Bon Secours Health System consists of more than 23,000 caregivers helping people in six states. Its vision is to be a prophetic Catholic health ministry partnering with communities to create a more humane world, build health and social justice and provide exceptional value for those served. For more information, go to www.bshsi.org.

About inHEALTH
inHEALTH was founded in 1995 as a partnership between hospitals and physicians in Central Virginia.  inHEALTH is an "ACO enablement company" which offers a continuum of services assisting health care providers to improve efficiency, patient access, outcomes and cost.  Its core offerings include telephonic health & wellness coaching, condition management, physician practice support, health information technology, and population health infrastructure.  inHEALTH has a primary office location in Richmond, VA, with locations in Asheville, NC, St. Petersburg, FL, and Brentwood, TN.  For more information, see inhealthcommunity.com.

About Phytel
The premier company empowering physician-led population health improvement, Phytel provides physicians with proven technology to deliver timely, coordinated care to their patients. Phytel's SaaS-based registry uses evidence-based chronic and preventive care protocols to identify and notify patients due for service, while tracking compliance and measuring quality and financial results. The only company to combine care management automation with an advanced patient engagement engine, Phytel has been heralded by KLAS as an "early leader" in population health management, with a "historical lead" in patient engagement capabilities. Phytel is also ISO 9001:2008 certified, confirming adherence to ISO's internationally recognized Total Quality Management (TQM) standards. For more information, please visit www.phytel.com. Follow us on Twitter and find us on Facebook.

­­­­­­Media Contacts:
Todd Stein
Amendola Communications for Phytel
916-346-4213
[email protected]

Carol Duckworth
Director, Sales & Marketing (inHEALTH)
(804) 359-4500 x216
[email protected]

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SOURCE Phytel

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