OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (March 31, 2020)—WellSky, a global health and community care technology and services company, launched WellSky Care Coordination—an analytics-driven platform that delivers an unprecedented level of care coordination between payers, health systems, and post-acute care providers to safely treat patients of a higher acuity in the home rather than in hospitals. By connecting to WellSky’s network of 10,000 in-home care agencies and 1 million nurses and caregivers, health care stakeholders can implement coordinated care management programs that increase transparency, elevate clinical outcomes, and lower costs across a state, region and the United States.
As the rapidly accelerating spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) puts unmatched pressure on the U.S. health care system, a new analysis by the Harvard Global Health Institute estimates that in many parts of the U.S., hospitals may have less than half the number of beds they need to meet COVID-19 needs. To address the anticipated hospital-bed shortage, WellSky activated its expansive care coordination network to preserve limited resources and provide safe, in-home care to non-COVID-19 patients who would typically utilize those beds.
“Home-based care models can reduce the burden on the health care system by freeing up hospital beds for severely ill patients and allowing those who are less critical to recover safely and comfortably in their homes,” said Bill Miller, CEO of WellSky.
The initiative derives from the innovative collaboration between Amedisys, the nation’s second largest provider of home health care, and ClearCare, a subsidiary of WellSky, announced in July 2019. The Care Coordination Program works to connect high-quality home health care with the growing demand for personal care at scale through WellSky’s platform connecting thousands of personal care providers. To date, through the ClearCare platform, Amedisys has connected more than 1,300 personal care agencies to its more than 320 home health agencies in 34 states.
Leveraging WellSky Care Coordination, hospitals, payers and accountable care organizations (ACOs) can collaborate with qualified local home-based providers to deliver coordinated care management protocols and gain insight from built-in analytics. Home-based providers include home health agencies and personal care (also commonly referred to as “homecare” or “private duty”) agencies that support people who need assistance with activities of daily living.
“WellSky software and services power the day-to-day operations of one in four home health and personal care agencies in the United States,” said Miller. “With access to the nation’s largest network, health systems, payers, and ACOs can partner with WellSky as a single source for managing a national, in-home care network. By working together, we can leverage this network to alleviate some of the pressure the coronavirus is placing on our acute-care settings, while also keeping our most vulnerable populations safe and healthy.”
This WellSky Care Coordination video illustrates how care managers can:
- administer interventions for targeted patient populations, such as congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cellulitis, and non-COVID-19 pneumonia;
- connect referred patients to local, qualified providers that use WellSky to manage their operations and clinical delivery;
- receive point-of-care notifications about changes in condition or hospitalization; and
- assist with low-acuity COVID-19 patients living alone or lacking family support, with the sufficient provision of personal protective equipment.
“The scope of the COVID-19 pandemic is pressure testing the true capacity of our health system. Healthcare providers are facing unprecedented challenges, and coordinating care is no longer a luxury but a necessity,” said Paul Kusserow, president, CEO, and chairman of the board of Amedisys. “Our teams of caregivers across the country are ready to support the growing need for health care at home by coordinating care models with trusted partners.”
Visit wellsky.com for more information.
