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New Jersey Hospital Cuts Stroke Readmission Rate Through mHealth

Hackensack Meridian Health Jersey Shore University Medical Center has cut its readmission rate in half for stroke patients with an mHealth service that gives them on-demand access to discharge instructions and resources.

Source: ThinkStock

By Eric Wicklund

- An mHealth platform giving stroke survivors and their care providers on-demand access to discharge information and resources has helped a New Jersey hospital cut its readmission rate for stroke patients in half.

Officials at Hackensack Meridian Health Jersey Shore University Medical Center said the Vocera Care Inform connected health service enables providers to record discharge instructions while at the bedside. Patients and their families can then play back those instructions after discharge, as well as gaining access to other post-discharge educational resources.

“We are empowering stroke survivors and their families with personalized, rich educational resources to help manage stroke recovery after they leave the hospital,” Jackie Dwyer, RN, MSN, CNRN, the Stroke Program manager at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, said in a press release. “I think when patients hear discharge instructions and teach-back sessions that include their own voices and the voices of their nurses, it helps improve accountability and compliance.”

The hospital is one of hundreds across the country using mHealth not only to improve post-discharge patient engagement, but to give them and their caregivers more information and better access to care management services. Some platforms include links back to the hospital for care collaboration, or to specialists for ongoing rehabilitation.

Providers are also using these telehealth platforms for continuing care and remote patient monitoring programs, enabling them to capture biometrics and other data at home, monitor ongoing care and intervene if a health crisis is detected.

According to officials at Jersey Shore Medical Center, the service helped them to reduce readmission rates in the stroke program from 7.2 percent to 3.6 percent – an important factor given that one-quarter of stroke survivors suffer another stroke.

In addition, hospital officials saw a 7 percent improvement in medication compliance and a 3 percent boost in patients making follow-up visits with their providers – two factors that can help increase clinical outcomes. They also reported increases in the number of patients who could recite signs and symptoms of stroke and personal risk factors, an indication that the platform is helping patients to better manage their own care.

“Stroke programs across the country can benefit from the communication strategy and secondary prevention initiative deployed at Jersey Shore University Medical Center,” Rhonda Collins, DNP, RN, Vocera’s chief nursing officer, said in the press release. “It’s impressive to see how the hospital’s Stroke Rescue Center uses voice technology to transform patient engagement and improve care plan compliance.”

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