Humana Launches Remote Patient Monitoring Program for Chronic Care

Humana is launching a home healthcare service that includes remote patient monitoring.

The Kentucky-based insurer is partnering with DispatchHealth to launch the program in Denver and Tacoma, WA, for patients requiring care management for multiple chronic conditions, with plans to expand the service to Texas, Arizona and Nevada later this year.

The news aligns with a surge of interest in remote patient monitoring and telehealth programs during the coronavirus pandemic, during which providers are looking to shift in-person care to virtual care platforms that allow patients to be treated at home. Payers are also looking at the market as a means of reducing expensive and often unnecessary in-patient care.

In this case, Humana is looking to develop care pathways for members with heart failure, COPD, kidney and urinary tract infections cellulitis and other co-existing chronic conditions that can be managed at home through a combination of in-person and connected care.

“The agreement enhances Humana’s holistic approach to patient care and empowers clinicians to go beyond traditional clinical treatment,” Susan Diamond, president of Humana’s Home Business, said in a press release. “Humana and DispatchHealth are focused on improving the overall home care experience and health outcomes by allowing individuals to remain at home while also empowering the medical team to identify and address patient needs, including social determinants of health.”

Humana is one of the first payers to take advantage of a new waiver program launched by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last year. CMS’ Acute Hospital Care at Home program aims to reduce hospital in-patient volume by treating certain acute care patients at home through a platform that combines daily check-ins with remote monitoring and telemedicine tools.

Humana executives point out that older Americans with multiple chronic conditions are at high risk of suffering severe effects from COVID-19, making it more imperative that they be offered care services at home.

The program, managed by Denver-based DispatchHealth, offers selected Humana members on-call access to a healthcare team, including physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners, as well as daily visits, remote patient monitoring services and 24/7 emergency communications.

“Now, more than ever, it is critical that our most vulnerable patients have access to care and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions,” DispatchHealth CEO Mark Prather said in the press release. “Our Advanced Care services safely provide in-home medical care for acutely ill patients requiring multiple days of treatment. The natural link between our on-demand service offering and Advanced Care delivers on the vision of a hospital-like setting without walls.”