The Path To Reduce US Patients Admissions by 5.5 Million

In July of 2003 the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) implemented a home Telehealth program, Care Coordination/Home Telehealth (CCHT) with the goal of providing in-home care for veterans with chronic conditions. Since the inception of CCHT, over 43,000 patients have been enrolled in the program. Though the use of messaging/monitoring devices, video and videophones, CCHT was able to reduce hospital admission by 19.74% while reducing bed days of care by 25.31%.

The results of the VHA’s CCHT program is impressive not only in its proven reduction of in hospital care but also in its ability to reach traditional underserved veterans demographic such as those who live in rural areas. The size of this program also provides a great insight into the power of using enhanced communication technologies (TelWebMed) to improve care and reduce cost within the general healthcare population. CCHT also proved that TelWebMed processes are effective at monitoring and treating chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, obstructive pulmonary disease, posttraumatic stress disorder and depression.

The VHA success in executing the VHA Care Coordination plan provides a model that can be applied to all hospitals. In 2007, there were about 37 million admissions in all US Registered Hospitals , If hospitals could reduce their admission by even 15% hospitals could lower overall hospital admissions by 5.5 million patients. Costs savings would even be greater with a more technological advanced approach that leverages a multi-channel approach using the phone, text messaging, web video, Internet, live chat and e-mail.

To Read the Fulle CCHT Report From The VHA Click Here
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1 Registered hospitals are hospitals that meet the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) for registration as a hospital facility.