Telemonitoring reduces heart failure, re-hospitalizations and lowers costs when added to Geisinger’s care management process

Geisinger Health Plan, begun in 1985, is one of the nation’s largest HMOs, serving 290,000 members, and is ranked among the top health insurance companies in the country.  Parent Geisinger Health System is a comprehensive healthcare network dedicated to community-focused, not-for-profit, physician healthcare, medical research and education, and serves 2.6 million residents in central and northeast PA.

GHP wanted to assess the impact of telemonitoring on heart failure patients to extend the reach of overtaxed complex care managers. Remote monitoring of weight and self-reported symptoms was threaded into GHP’s already robust complex care management process to detect pre-acute conditions at the earliest opportunity.  The study tracked 541 Medicare Advantage members with an average stay on the program of 2 years, making it one of the longest and largest Heart Failure telehealth studies to date.

Results demonstrated significant reductions in the probability of all-cause 30-day and 90-day readmission.

Cost of care was reduced, yielding 11% in additional cost savings for an ROI of 3.3 to 1.  

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