Scottsdale, Ariz., October 10, 2024 – Life365 is proud to announce its involvement in a recent health study, published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, that highlights a new approach to reducing hospital readmission rates in heart failure (HF) patients. The study, titled “A Quality Improvement-based Approach to Implementing a Remote Monitoring–Based Bundle in Transitional Care Patients for Heart Failure,” demonstrates the success of a forward-thinking care model that integrates technology, clinical services, and an equity-focused methodology.
The study focused on a quality improvement (QI) initiative that implemented heart failure care bundles. The bundle with the highest outcomes included Life365’s cellular connected medical devices and platform for tracking patient’s vital signs, clinical tele-pharmacy services, in-person community paramedicine visits, and virtual monitoring and care from the hospital transitional care team. This integrated care model not only improved health outcomes but also decreased health equity disparities and reduced gaps in care delivery. The study was conducted at White Plains Hospital, a nonprofit community hospital in Westchester County, New York, and was led by Farrukh N. Jafri, MD, MS-HPEd, FACEP.
Key Findings:
- Low Readmission Rate: Patients who received the full heart failure bundle of services experienced a significant reduction in readmission rates, with a rate of only 2.6%. The current national average 30-day readmission rate for Heart Failure (HF) is 23%.
- Integrated Care Approach: The program’s success was driven by its holistic approach, integrating community paramedicine, clinical tele-pharmacy, remote therapeutic monitoring, and remote physiological monitoring (RPM) services. This ensured comprehensive patient care and intervention after hospital discharge.
- Equitable Technology Access: A key aspect of the study was its focus on equity. The research team made mid-study adjustments to transition from cellular phone devices with an app installed, to a more accessible cellular hub-based model provided by Life365, ensuring that all patients, regardless of technological proficiency or socioeconomic status, could benefit from the RPM program. This approach closed several gaps in service delivery and improved equitable access to care.
The study team systematically reviewed prior heart failure (HF) readmissions to identify key drivers of readmissions and to uncover gaps in care. Using this data, they developed key drivers for targeted service interventions that were included in the heart failure care bundles. A Pareto diagram revealed that 23.0% of readmissions were medication-related, while a fishbone diagram focusing on care equity informed the creation of a key driver diagram to guide intervention services.
“Our collaborative approach, which combines proactive monitoring with community-based interventions for our heart failure patients, has not only reduced readmissions but also enhanced equity in care delivery,” said Dr. Farrukh Jafri, Medical Director of WPH Cares at White Plains Hospital. “By addressing social determinants of health, we have been able to deliver comprehensive support tailored specifically to our patients’ needs, ultimately improving outcomes overall. We are thrilled to see such impactful results from the integration of Life365’s virtual care platform within our heart failure care model and look forward to future collaboration.”
The study underscores the importance of combining technology with patient-centered care strategies to improve health outcomes and equity. It highlights the need to align the right technology with the right population, ensuring usability and scalability for all. Life365 Health is committed to leveraging these findings to deliver innovative solutions that remain accessible, regardless of a patient's tech comfort level or socioeconomic status.
"This study shows that team-based care, powered by the right tools, can drastically improve outcomes," said Dr. Mehrdad Shafa, Life365’s Chief Medical Officer. "By integrating RPM into the standard of care, we can proactively manage patient conditions, reduce costly readmissions, and deliver equitable, high-quality care to underserved populations."
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About Life365 Health:
Life365 Health is a leading developer of virtual care technology solutions that enables healthcare delivery at home. The Life365 platform addresses key care delivery challenges by providing scalable solution integration and logistics to enterprise healthcare organizations, to enable patient connectivity, engagement, and improved outcomes for their patient populations at home. The platform provides a single integration point that enables providers, payers, and others to utilize a proactive, virtual first care approach to remotely engage and monitor patients with a variety of conditions and needs including; chronic disease management, post-discharge care, and population health management.
Life365 is led by an experienced, industry recognized team and is a major patent holder of wearables, sensors and patches driven by machine learning / AI, to drive the next generation of remote patient monitoring to scale. Life365 is a strategic partner of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare and the Veterans Association, serving the largest population of Veterans in the world.
For more information regarding Life365, please visit www.life365.health.
About White Plains Hospital:
White Plains Hospital is a proud member of the Montefiore Health System, serving as its tertiary hub of advanced care in the Hudson Valley. The Hospital is a 292-bed not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of providing exceptional acute and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County and its surrounding areas. White Plains Hospital has outpatient medical facilities across Westchester, including multispecialty practices in Armonk, Hawthorne, Larchmont, New Rochelle, Rye Brook, Somers, Yonkers and Yorktown Heights; and Scarsdale Medical Group locations in Harrison and Scarsdale.
The Hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and in 2024, it received another 5-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) — the highest distinction offered by that federal agency for the third consecutive year. In addition, the Hospital received its third Magnet® designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), a distinction held by only two percent of hospitals in the country. White Plains Hospital has consistently received the Outstanding Patient Experience Award from Healthgrades®, and in 2024 was awarded an “A” Safety Grade from the Leapfrog Group for the 11th consecutive time.
www.wphospital.org
For media inquiries, please contact:
Kendall Paulsen | Life365 Health
media@life365.health
888-818-2322 x705
