Page 2 CaseStudiesinTelehealthAdoptionCenturaHealthatHomeHomeTelehealthastheStandardofCare

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program. The merged telehealth program expands the living options, to more than 20,000 patients and
activities of the clinical call center to provide assis- members of their families, many of whom are older
tance to participants in the telehealth program 24 hours adults. CHAH serves patients and residents in their
a day, seven days a week. own homes, nursing homes, residential centers, and
The year-long program reduced the frequency hospitals, and employs more than 1,300 employees to
of 30-day rehospitalizations and home RN visits, while serve communities across the state. Today, CHAH is
improving quality of life, self-management, and educa- the largest home care provider in the state, with more
tion among patients. The program also supported advo- than 400 clinical staff and associates, including regis-
cacy for policy change addressing payments to home tered nurses, physical therapists, occupational thera-
care agencies for telehealth services in Colorado. The pists, speech therapists, medical social workers, and
integration of CHAH staff into the telehealth program chaplains.
has been essential for the program’s success and has CHAH is the first home health agency in
led to the establishment of telehealth as a new standard Colorado to have implemented a telehealth system.
of care at CHAH. The agency’s integrated clinical call center–telehealth
program represents a culmination of efforts that origi-
BACKGROUND nally began in 2004 with video-based interventions for
As the largest integrated health care system in a small population of high-acuity patients enrolled in a
Colorado, Centura Health serves communities in managed Medicare plan. Telehealth has enabled CHAH
Boulder county, the metro Denver area, Colorado to visit with patients in between scheduled in-person
Springs, Pueblo, Cañon City, and rural and mountain home visits to reinforce the education process and to
communities. The integrated delivery system encom- maintain closer contact with patients. Traditionally, eli-
passes a network of 13 hospitals, four freestanding gible participants meet the Medicare home health ben-
emergency departments, seven senior living com- efit and for these patients there has been no program
munities, and home health and hospice services. cost for participation.
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Approximately 14,500 employees, including more
than 6,000 physician partners, deliver advanced care to INTEGRATION OF THE CLINICAL CALL
more than half a million people annually. CENTER AND TELEHEALTH PROGRAMS
The deployment of information systems is a The integrated program broadens the clinical call cen-
core tenet in Centura Health’s systemwide strategic ter’s capabilities to include telehealth assistance and
2020 plan to improve the quality, consistency, avail- coordinated care. This clinical call center also extends
ability, and affordability of health care to communities the reach of telehealth-enabled care to include patient
throughout Colorado. This also aligns operationally populations who would otherwise not be eligible for
with the evolution of the Centura model from centers home care services under the Medicare homebound
of care (i.e., individual hospitals) to a complete system benefit. The evaluation criteria used for inclusion in
of care. Establishing electronic health records linking the telehealth program has been broadened to include
physicians, clinics, hospitals, long-term care facilities, all patients readying for discharge from the hospital,
and home care services has been central to Centura’s regardless of their eligibility under Medicare for home
strategic investments in information technology. care services. The program extends the continuity of
Centura Health at Home (CHAH) was founded care on a 24/7 basis, more effectively uses existing
in 1997. It is a division of Centura Health and a non- health care resources, and extends the reach of a lim-
profit, faith-based, home health care organization ited nursing staff to manage a larger number of patients
that provides a broad continuum of services, includ- on a daily basis (Exhibit 1).
ing home care, rehabilitation therapies, and senior