Medssenger Team
Costs of care for end-stage renal disease patients have long been notoriously high. The United States Renal Data System’s 2017 annual report estimated that approximately 30 million American adults, 14.8% of the American adult population, have chronic kidney disease. The report also estimates the total Medicare spending for beneficiaries with kidney disease to be nearly $100 billion as of 2015. While some of the costs could be explained by the treatment plan and the dialysis that these patients require, much of the hefty price tag comes from preventable complications caused by lapses in care coordination and an incomplete care cycle.
A large portion of the renal disease patients suffer from additional diseases; furthermore, complications and deterioration from the dialysis treatment could often have profound impacts on the mental and physical health of the patient. Such impacts warrant the intervention and participation of a multidisciplinary team that can provide comprehensive, quality care for the patient.
Another challenge of end-stage renal disease care is patient compliance. End-stage renal disease patients take an average of 17 medications a day. The side effects of dialysis and other treatment plans must be offset by the patient’s strict adherence to these therapeutic measures, yet the burden and workload associated with complying falls entirely on the patients and their families. The study notes that it is common for patients to miss or skip dialysis treatments, causing their physical conditions to worsen and forcing the patients to seek emergency care.
According to Dr. Joseph Bonventre, past President of the American Society of Nephrology and Co-Founder of Medssenger, some healthcare providers have started to realize the benefits of a team-based approach to treating end-stage renal disease. These benefits include ensuring patient compliance, preventing avoidable complications and deterioration, and providing a more comprehensive care package for the patient. Park Nicollet Health Services, an integrated care system in Minnesota, treated over 100 patients with a comprehensive care plan that involves the nephrology team, the physicians and nursing staff, social workers from the emergency department, and care consultants who directly work with patients to ensure compliance and manage complex care. Park Nicollet’s approach saw successful results as the healthcare provider saved $1.2 million in cost while simultaneously decreasing emergency department visits by 50 percent and hospital admissions by 69 percent.
Medssenger’s capabilities could help healthcare providers like Park Nicollet implement and enhance their team-based approach to treating end-stage renal disease. For instance, Medssenger’s capacity to connect all parties of the care cycle would allow teams to seamlessly coordinate and manage workflow. Our structured data and analytics function, combined with the ability to instantaneously connect patient to provider, would also provide an effective and cost-efficient solution to ensuring patient compliance and managing complex care. Gena Graves, Senior Director of Care Management in the Care Delivery Team at Health Partners, said “(End-stage renal disease patients) are a known subset of patients that could benefit from good care coordination to really manage the quality of care, their outcomes, and the total cost of care”. Medssenger’s capabilities and mission to enhance care coordination makes it the ideal care tool for renal disease.