Virtual care (telehealth) is the delivery of health-related services and information via a myriad of technology solutions. Studies show that implementation of a virtual care system can dramatically improve the overall health and outcomes of patients using the system. THA Group is a nationally recognized leader in the field of virtual care – providing health-related services and information through the use of telemonitoring devices and telecommunications for chronic disease management, remote vital sign monitoring and medication adherence monitoring.
Telephony
Telephony includes communication via telephone, which is particularly useful for consultations, remote vital sign collection and transmission, and education in the home. Telephony allows our staff to provide more effective health care that meets the client’s needs, while more effectively using staff to deliver that care.
Telemonitoring
With the help of a small hospital-grade in-home monitor, our clients use the interactive system daily to monitor their vital signs and symptoms. In less than 30 seconds, these vital signs and symptoms are transmitted securely over the phone line to a central monitoring station where our nurses review and contact our clients in the event of any abnormal readings. Abnormal readings are then communicated to the client’s physician, who can adjust the client’s care plan to prevent trips to the hospital or emergency room.
Telecommunications
Another technological tool we employ is a point of care system that allows us to create and maintain an electronic medical record for each client. This electronic medical record allows the care team to provide a more efficient, higher level of care. We can access the medical record to document clinical notes and review a client’s care plan, medications and doctor’s orders while in the client’s home.
This technology, paired with our telephony and clinicians’ home visits, is our way of caring for clients every day. We are available to our clients between visits with nurses on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Benefits of Virtual Care:
- Telemonitoring provides daily knowledge of health status without the need for a clinician or caregiver to be present, thus eliminating gaps in client monitoring and enhancing the ability to identify new trends.
- Prevents unnecessary hospitalizations or emergency room visits
- Encourages adherence to the prescribed care plan
- Improves ability to stay independent and in the home
- Provides peace of mind that health status is being monitored every day
- Documenting vital signs and symptoms from the home without the intervention of a clinician empowers clients to better identify factors that can exacerbate their health conditions and empower them for self-management, translating into higher patient satisfaction.
- Using telephony improves communications between patients and caregivers, giving the caregivers and patients data in real-time, thus enhancing the overall diagnosis.
- Remote monitoring improves client care by collecting vital client information daily.
RightHealth is serving as a coordinator for CMS’s Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative. Bundled payments are a new way to manage and control healthcare spending. This approach aims to both improve the quality of patient care and lower the cost. Take a look at how bundled payments work: