This month marks the start of the CMS comprehensive care for joint replacement program, the first bundled payments program to launch. About 800 healthcare facilities are expected to participate in the initiative, which puts economic incentives in place for hospitals to improve outcomes. In an interview with HealthLoop, CEO Todd Johnson reinforced how the company’s approach to improving communication between patients and physicians fits into this payment model shift.
HealthLoop’s platform is designed to automate follow-up care by helping physicians send customized patient education information and reminders by email or text as patients recover from hospital visits. It claims to lower readmissions by 25 percent.
In one case, Johnson recalls a patient developed a blood clot creating a pulmonary embolism. It apparently arose following a procedure on a rotator cup. The physician received the alert after the patient responded to one of the automated follow-up messages sent to the patient daily, confirming redness and swelling and cramping in their leg. The irony was the patient “was the lowest of low-risk patients,” said Johnson.
“We talk about outcomes and regulatory issues but these are real people,” Johnson said. “Our number one priority is no [adverse] patient safety events and how many lives can we save?”
HealthLoop is in growth mode, according to Johnson. It has at least 45 customers that include a “healthy mix” of middle market practices and single specialty practices. Among the customers it has added recently are 90210 Surgery Center in California and Health First in Florida. It has also worked with electronic health record providers such as Epic, Allscripts and athenahealth.
Although the joint replacement program is something HealthLoop considers itself well positioned for, most of its business revolves around chronic disease management including patients with COPD, congestive heart failure and diabetes.
Photo: HealthLoop
