ER Avoided with Nursing Home Trip and Fall
Guardiant Health avoids emergency room, paramedic transport and saves thousands in medical expenses to the health system.
Executive Summary
For at-risk patients, particularly seniors, an Emergency Room visit and subsequent hospital stay can be extremely costly- with expenses totaling thousands of dollars. With Guardiant Comprehensive Care, rapid, on-site patient assessment using advanced technology and data aggregation uniquely tailored to an individual’s medical needs avoids transporting a 96-year-old patient to the ER.
Problem/Challenge
An elderly 96-year-old female, “Terri”, who has a history of falling, depression, pain, and limited mobility, is a resident in an assisted living facility. One afternoon, she suffered a fall in her apartment, resulting in a bruise on her cheek. Terri is able to call and alert her facility, and they initiate a 911 call since their protocols call for 911 assistance for those residents who are taking blood thinners. Within a few minutes, a paramedic team is on site and on their way to Terri’s apartment where they will treat her and prepare to transport Terri to the ER for additional treatment and likely, a comprehensive range of tests and overnight observation.
Solution
The assisted living facility also contacts Guardiant, and a video call via the Guardiant tablet is initiated with the on-site paramedics and her Guardiant physician- who is knowledgeable about Terri’s health history, risks, medications and living environment- is able to conduct a video assessment of the situation. The paramedic team is also able to participate in the video call to offer their input and observations. During the video call the Guardiant Health physician was able to conclude Terri did not lose consciousness and is not experiencing shortness of breath or chest pain, but rather, she simply lost her balance, causing her to fall, which, because of her back and spine issues, she was prone to doing. Also, with deep knowledge of Terri’s history and medications, Guardiant knew Terri was not on a blood thinner, thus she is not at risk for internal bleeding from her fall.
After further examination from the paramedic team, that included a basic virtual neurologic exam, it was determined and recommended by Guardiant Health that Terri was safe, and there was no reason to transport her to the hospital. Instead, her physician recommended the assisted living facility perform periodic bed checks on her throughout the evening, and that Terri and her physician conduct a follow-up video visit the next morning. Because Guardiant Health, from a clinical perspective, was able to evaluate Terri on site and sign off on an assessment and recommendation, the paramedics and assisted living facility agreed it was not necessary to transport Terri to the hospital.
Results/Impact
Terri’s situation is an example of how the Guardiant’s Comprehensive Care service can dramatically impact the wellbeing of today’s at-risk patient population, while assisting member health organizations to achieve improved health outcomes and lower costs. It is estimated that approximately half of all ER visits of those who are considered at-risk and elderly can be eliminated through a service such as Guardiant’s Comprehensive Care. Through remote monitoring, advanced data aggregation, and clinical insights from frequent virtual visits, Guardiant ensures reliable comprehensive care management that delivers consistent results and an improved ROIreduces the cost of care.
The two key points are that we had better info than the Assisted Living and that we were able to intervene real-time, which led to a better outcome for the patient and reduced cost of care. I think we're focusing on the tech when that was the tool rather than the point of the story.
I think we're burying the lead. The fact that we had better information about Terri's medication regimen is a major proof point. I'd suggest highlighting this more.
