KentuckyOne Health Partners, a provider-based, physician-led clinically integrated network and care management company developed by KentuckyOne Health, has launched Kentucky’s first Medicare-designated orthopedic episode of care program.
The program coordinates the information, care planning, health coaching and costs of all physicians, specialists and hospitals involved in a patient’s orthopedic episode of care. The goal of the program is to provide fully coordinated care in order to improve patient satisfaction, reduce the length of hospital stays and lower readmission rates for orthopedic patients.
“Our orthopedic care management and episode payment program has brought the total care experience to the level of our physicians’ surgical expertise, which is top-notch,” said Don Lovasz, president, KentuckyOne Health Partners. “The feedback from patients and physicians has been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, the first 60 patients have spent less time in the hospital and had lower readmission rates.”
One key to the success has been the availability of KentuckyOne Health Partners nurses 24-hours-a-day to answer patient questions and address potential complications early. While patients have always been encouraged to call their surgeon with any difficulties or questions between hospital discharge and first office visit, data has shown that most patients are reluctant to do so. Many of these reluctant patients wind up in an emergency room due to complications about which the physician is unaware. ??The availability of a nurse who has quick and direct access to the physician has already dramatically decreased the readmission and complication rates for patients in the program, and removed unnecessary costs.
Formed in June 2012, KentuckyOne Health Partners is an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) covers 72,000 lives and has 1,600 participating physicians. KentuckyOne Health Partners was ranked as the twelfth largest accountable care organization (ACO) in Modern Healthcare’s 2015 ACOs Survey.
ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers that come together voluntarily to provide coordinated care to Medicare patients. The goal of an ACO is to ensure patients get the care they need, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors.
