Regenstrief Institute partners with startup to improve care in nursing homes

2019 NOV 28 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- INDIANAPOLIS -- Regenstrief Institute is investing and partnering with Care Revolution, a medical startup focused on improving care at nursing facilities, controlling costs and reducing trips to the hospital. The new venture expands on a successful and ongoing project funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Center for Innovation.

In return for its support, Regenstrief is receiving a stake in the company, led by Kathleen Unroe, M.D., MHA, a Regenstrief research scientist, Care Revolution chief executive officer, practicing geriatrician and associate professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine.

“Investing in Care Revolution was an easy choice for us,” said Peter Embi, M.D., M.S., Regenstrief president and chief executive officer. “The creation of this company epitomizes the type of impact that can result from the successful translation of research-to-practice. As it grows and spreads across the U.S., we expect Care Revolution to create great value by improving the quality of care for people in nursing homes while saving the healthcare system hundreds of millions of dollars in the process.”

In a trial at 19 Indiana nursing homes, the original study lowered Medicare expenditures by $1,589 per nursing home resident per year, produced a total Medicare spending reduction of nearly $13.5 million and a net savings of more than $3.4 million over a two-year span.

“We’re excited to partner with Regenstrief in this effort to improve the quality of care for a very vulnerable population,” said Dr. Unroe. “Regenstrief’s investment in Care Revolution will empower our company to expand our reach and improve the care provided to older adults in areas far beyond central Indiana.”

Care Revolution will help long-term nursing facilities implement a new model of care into their daily workflow. The program embeds a specially-trained nurse at each facility. That nurse provides support to long-stay residents and their families and education and training to other staff members while also conducting reviews of care management.

The ultimate goal of the model is to allow nursing home residents to be treated in the familiar setting of the facility more often, rather than be transferred to the hospital. Hospital visits can be very disruptive to the lives of older adults. The transfers frequently have a negative impact on the person’s overall health and can lead to reduced function.

Care Revolution’s model of care proved highly effective in the original study, reducing avoidable hospitalizations by 33 percent.

The new venture will provide hands-on training, workflow improvement tools, data management resources and other options to facilities to help them improve quality of care and communication with families.

“Care Revolution will bring a player-coach to the arena of skilled nursing, someone who’s directing activity and getting directly involved in delivering care,” said Regenstrief Vice President of Business Development Todd Saxton, PhD. “This investment will facilitate innovation in healthcare, an area that is at the heart of Regenstrief’s mission. We look forward to this partnership and hope to develop more collaborations to improve patient care.”

In addition to its operational investment with Care Revolution, Regenstrief will also be assisting in the development of a companion app. Focused on workflow to support a specialized registered nurse role and the ability to provide clinical decision support, this software will allow Care Revolution to scale up the critical clinical elements that have been refined over the past seven years in the CMS trial. The finished product will be a user-friendly iOS app that works on an iPad and can be brought right to the bedside for real-time assessment and documentation.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)