South Jersey Program Seeks to Reduce Readmissions, Improve Quality

Heslop says the program "absolutely" has the potential to keep costs down as well, because patients' length of stay will be reduced and they will be home for longer periods before coming back to the hospital. Williams says the average heart failure patient will spend an average of 1.5-2.5 days per year in the hospital, costing roughly $10,000 in related expenses.

The program helps by keeping those patients out of the hospital unless it is absolutely necessary, he says.

"We are already seeing in this four-month analysis some significant improvement in the costs of care because of the program," Williams says. "We are quite convinced that on a national scale there is a significant financial improvement for the country for programs like this should they be implemented broadly."

All these benefits provided by the technology improves quality as well, Williams says, by helping care teams provide better treatment.

"The way it does that is by creating this little daily action that patients need to take to hold them accountable to being part of that care team," he says.

That simple daily action allows the patients to feel they have much more instant access to their care team, but secondly acts like an accountability program that provides "instant feedback" about their behavior, Williams says.

Williams uses the example of a heart failure patient who eats dinner at a Chinese restaurant buffet the night before and then reports in the South Jersey database that their ankles are swollen and short of breath. He says a light bulb goes off and they often understand now for the first time in many cases that what they do daily impacts their condition.

When patients have that real-time feedback about their activities and how it ties in to their condition, they are more likely to be hold themselves accountable for less-than-healthy behavior, Williams says.

"Patients then develop more confidence, more comfort with their condition, and they know how to manage it and they feel like this little daily routine can keep them healthy and out of the hospital," Williams says.