A major post-acute provider association in the state of Maryland has partnered with an analytics company to form a network of skilled nursing facilities, with the goal of generating millions in Medicare savings for the state of Maryland.
The network will span the state of Maryland and connect approximately 60 to 80 SNFs and their electronic health record (EHR) systems into one care management platform.
The alliance consists of SNFs in the LifeSpan Network, which also includes assisted living facilities; continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs); and senior housing and community- and hospital-based programs, Kevin Heffner, CEO of LifeSpan Network, and Joan Neuscheler, CEO of Real Time Medical Systems, told Skilled Nursing News via e-mail.
Real Time Medical Systems, which provides interventional analytics software that provides suggestions on care related to high-risk patients, will provide the technological backing for the network. The Linthicum Heights, Md.-based company also recently inked a deal to partner with Creative Solutions in Healthcare, based in Fort Worth, Texas, to bring its tech to 70 SNFs in the Lone Star State.
The network will allow insurers and health systems to see and compare the outcome results from each SNF and sort the data by time, diagnoses, length of stay, and acuity, among other metrics, according to the deal announcement.
The announcement also touted a projected reduction in Medicare costs in Maryland of at least $35 million as a result of the partnership — if SNF-related hospitalizations are cut in half. This estimate is based on Maryland’s current Medicare patient population in nursing homes, Heffner and Neuscheler said, as well as internal estimates showing that current Real Time users experience about a 50% drop in hospitalizations.
“The reduction of the readmission percentage is from 20% down to 10%, and reduction of long-term care population hospital days by 50%,” both CEOs said in the email. “That will yield about $100 million [in] savings, and if a third of Maryland state’s SNFs are within the network, that will be roughly a $35M savings.”
When asked how long the estimated $35 million in savings would take to materialize, Heffner and Neuscheler said Real Time users historically see a reduction in admissions in as early as three to six months.
The network has already been formed with existing SNFs that have implemented Real Time’s interventional analytics platform in their facilities, Heffner and Neuscheler said, and they can join at no additional cost.
“We’ll continue to grow the network, working with LifeSpan members and facilities who have not yet implemented Real Time,” they wrote.
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