Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health partnered with Contessa, an acute home care management company, to offer its patients home recovery care services including virtual visits by a physician and remote monitoring.
CommonSpirit Health, which formed in February as a result of Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives and San Francisco-based Dignity Health's merger, will initially launch Home Recovery Care in Phoenix at Chandler Regional Medical Center this month.
The Home Recovery Care program aims to help improve patient outcomes and eliminate unnecessary hospital admissions. CommonSpirit Health will make the program available to patients who have one or more of nearly 40 medical conditions, such as asthma or pneumonia, and patients can enroll in the program after being evaluated by a physician.
Contessa creates and manages episodic risk arrangements for commercial and Medicare Advantage health plans. Initially, Home Recovery Care will be offered to select Medicare Advantage patients, but the organization aims to expand to commercial and Medicaid patients over time.
Home Recovery Care patients will receive daily visits from an acute care-registered nurse, in addition to telehealth appointments with a physician, over 30 days. In-home medical care includes IVs, wound care and dressing changes. Remote monitoring of patients' vitals and biometrics will also be taken.
"Our work with Contessa will bring recommended intensive outpatient care into the comfort of one's home so that we can improve health outcomes and help enhance the overall health of our communities," Rich Roth, leader of strategic innovation at CommonSpirit Health, said in a news release emailed to Becker's Hospital Review. "Finding ways to provide high-quality access to care in low-cost settings is an essential component of how we must deliver care for the future."