News | November 23, 2015

Medalogix Releases End-Of-Episode Planning Solution

Concluded beta-testing stage with select clients

Medalogix, a Nashville-based healthcare technology company, recently announced the release of its new analytics-based end-of-episode (EOE) planning solution for home health agencies. The tool just concluded its beta-testing stage with two clients, Alternate Solutions Health Network and Great Lakes Caring Home Health.

The solution was designed to give home health caregivers more objectivity during the Home Health Agency (HHA) recertification process, wherein the physician decides after a 60-day episode of care (EOC) whether a patient is ready for discharge, or if the patient needs to remain on the agency's patient census for an additional EOC. If caregivers can more objectively identify those patients who are at high risk for their condition worsening, unnecessary rehospitalizations may be more readily avoided.

"To date, the industry has offered caregivers few data-driven clinical insight tools for determining whether a patient needs another round of care, or whether they're ready for discharge," said Dan Hogan, CEO of Medalogix. "Our company's new end-of-episode planning solution was created to fill that void, ensuring that patients receive the appropriate care at the appropriate time."

In traditional instances, the care team makes the decision to readmit or discharge based on instinct, education and experience. While those dimensions of decision-making are invaluable, the analytics portion of Medalogix’s EOE planning solution adds an additional layer of insight that helps ensure the right patients are getting the right level of care at the right time.

Additionally, Medalogix's EOE planning solution provides watchlists that allow clinicians to monitor patients based on how many days they have remaining in their 60-day episode. In many cases, a care team’s decision to readmit or discharge hinges on pending factors such as progress toward established goals, wound healing or improvement in cardiopulmonary status. In an effort to support the communication process during this fluctuating period, Medalogix's EOE planning solution provides a 'watchlist' feature where clinicians can keep watch on this subset of patients and monitor changes while evaluating theirpatients’ risk. The solution facilitates transparency across a census, supporting appropriate end of episode planning.

"We implemented Medalogix's EOE planning solution to help our centralized EOE Planning Team streamline communication and coordination," said Jolita Wilbanks, Vice President of Patient Services of Alternate Solutions Health Network." The solution allows our caregivers to recognize which patients have the highest potential need for additional care, creating an organized process during EOE planning."

By successfully identifying which course of care is most appropriate for a patient, home health providers may gain a competitive advantage with EOE planning through reduced emergency department use, decreased unnecessary re-hospitalizations, increased quality of care as measured by patient surveys and appropriate services increases through additional services provided.

"Although in the early stages of beta-testing, the Medalogix EOE planning solution has helped us more quickly identify patients who would most benefit from an additional episode of care," said Marcy Miller, Vice President of Patient Services of Great Lakes Caring Home Health. "Our goal is to always provide the highest level of care to our patients. This new solution from Medalogix helps us to do that."

About Alternate Solutions Health Network
Founded in 1999 by Tessie and David Ganzsarto, Alternate Solutions is recognized as an industry leader in post-acute strategic partnerships. It has strategic partnerships with health care systems in Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and West Virginia, and is in conversation with several groups throughout the country to form more. Alternate Solutions has received numerous awards and recognitions for excellence its fields, including being ranked by HomeCare Elite™ in the top 1 percent of home health care agencies in the United States. The award is based upon an analysis of performance measures in quality of care, quality improvement and financial performance.

About Great Lakes Caring
Great Lakes Caring Home Health and Hospice is one of the nation’s leading providers of a coordinated continuum of health care, consisting of home health, palliative, and hospice care. Our value-based health care services are delivered with an unparalleled level of quality by our dedicated team of health care professionals. Great Lakes Caring’s primary focus is to provide superior quality health care to those we are honored to serve, utilizing state-of-the-art technology and innovative processes which drive extraordinary patient outcomes, lower unnecessary re-hospitalization rates resulting in higher patient satisfaction at lower cost. Our commitment to excellence is illustrated by our investment in people, products, and programs that facilitate our industry leading clinical outcomes. Great Lakes Caring is resolute in our commitment to exceeding the expectations of the physicians, facilities and hospitals that entrust their patients to us and most importantly to exceeding the needs of the patients who are our quintessential priority.

About Medalogix
Medalogix is a Nashville-based healthcare technology company that provides analytics and workflows to home health providers so they can improve care and reduce costs. Founded in 2012 by former home health agency owner Dan Hogan, Medalogix has been recognized by Harvard University, HIMSS and Fierce Healthcare IT as an innovative solution that’s improving America’s Healthcare system. Medalogix currently offers two solutions: Touch, which automates a home health clinical team’s touchpoints, and Bridge, which helps identify and inform patients who would benefit from hospice care.

Medalogix is located in Nashville, Tennessee. For more information, visit http://medalogix.com/.

Source: Medalogix