PrescribeWellness Launches Solution to Help Control Hospital Readmissions

ALISO VIEJO, CA, October 25, 2012 (Press-News.org) PrescribeWellness today announced the release of its Transitional Care Intervention (TCI) solution to help reduce controllable readmissions for hospitals across the United States.

On October 1st, the Value Based Purchasing portion of the Affordable Care Act went into effect, shifting some of the readmission responsibilities to different community organizations. The PrescribeWellness TCI platform automates the delivery of critical educational and motivational information based on the individual's diagnosis, condition, risk factors and needs. It includes built-in reminders for appointments and medication adherence in the patient's language and channel of choice. Real-time reporting allows providers to instantly identify patients that need more intensive support.

"Nearly 20 percent of discharged Medicare patients are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days," said Al Babbington, CEO of PrescribeWellness. "Many of these readmissions are controllable. Using our unique Voice of Authority methodology patients receive support in the voice of their provider, driving greater compliance to appointments, medications and other discharge instructions."

Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) findings indicate that 19 percent of Medicare patients have an adverse event within 30 days with two-thirds of these events relating to prescription drug interactions. Family, pharmacists and primary care physicians must be involved to reduce adverse events and improve care transitions. PrescribeWellness' partnerships with state pharmacy associations leverage a network of over 10,000 independent pharmacies to improve proper medication adherence.

Previous methods to assure safe transitions are very labor intensive with active involvement from case managers, social workers or other staff. Leveraging the latest in Web 2.0 tools, PrescribeWellness automates follow-up, collects compliance information and alerts others as necessary to properly support the patient.

The initial release includes content developed by medical professionals to address the unique needs of patients who have suffered heart failure, heart attacks, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These diseases represent the tracked and penalized areas by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. PrescribeWellness is offering hospitals facing penalties the opportunity to try TCI without cost or obligation.

"One exciting aspect about this solution is that it can be launched in a day and hospitals can instantly measure success and ROI," said Babbington.

About PrescribeWellness
PrescribeWellness was founded in 2010 with a mission of reducing health care costs and improving health in America. The company delivers cloud-based communications and facilitates collaboration of health care providers, family and other stakeholders to improve care and outcomes. Their services include population health, medication adherence, chronic disease management, behavioral change programs and transitional care. For more information, please visit http://www.prescribewellness.com.