OSU Wexner Medical Center to Launch In-Home Heart Failure Care Program

Columbus-based Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is working with health technology company WellSky to implement an at-home heart failure program that aims to reduce readmissions for this patient population.

Through the partnership, OSU Wexner will have access to WellSky's care coordination platform and network of home health providers to deliver in-home heart failure protocols.

Here's how the new program will work.

When a heart failure patient is discharged from the hospital, they will have the option of voluntarily enrolling in the program. If they enroll, they will be entered into the WellSky Care Coordination portal.

The hospital can then create a care plan and send the patient a referral for in-home providers that can meet the patient's needs. Once the in-home provider receives the care plan and authorizations, they can visit the patient in their home to assess their health.

"While visiting the patient in the home, the caregiver leverages Sensible Medical's ReDS [remote dielectric sensing] technology, a system that can view the inside of the lungs of heart failure patients to assess lung fluid quickly and accurately," said Bill Miller, CEO of WellSky, in an email. "Care coordinators and in-home clinicians respond to any adverse changes and deploy necessary care interventions that are intended to prevent hospital readmissions."

Remote dielectric sensing is a non-invasive tool that transmits low-power electromagnetic signals through the thorax between two externally applied sensors to measure lung fluid.

Research published last September shows that ReDS monitoring significantly lowers the odds of readmission for heart failure patients within three months compared to patients not using ReDS.

Further, studies show that readmissions for heart failure are on the rise. Between 2010 and 2017, both 30- and 90-day readmissions following a heart failure hospitalization increased, according to a study published in April 2021 in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure.

"These readmissions alone generate more than 1 million hospital stays and billions of dollars in medical expenses each year and serve as a key driver of the growing cost of heart failure care," Miller said.

By implementing tightly coordinated care transitions and disease management protocols that are supported by technology and in-home providers, hospitals can help reduce readmissions, Miller added.

Curbing readmissions is especially key for hospitals as they can be penalized under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Hospital Readmission Reduction Program if they have higher than expected 30-day readmission rates for certain conditions, including heart failure.

The success of OSU Wexner's program will primarily be measured through patient engagement and the impact on hospital readmissions.

"Leveraging [WellSky's] network and well-coordinated best practices, the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center can fill the caregiver gap, allowing patients that are eligible to recover at home," Miller said.