Lafayette General Health maximizes post-discharge outreach

How one hospital is creating a seamless, connected patient experience

 

Challenge

Walk more closely with patients after discharge to assess recovery and identify any potential problems proactively.

Lafayette General Health (LGH) recognized that regular dialogue after discharge helps identify patients at risk for an adverse event, decreasing ED visits, hospital readmissions, and unnecessary visits to the doctor. It also increases patient satisfaction. A few years earlier, the organization had established a Care Call Center to check-in on patients after discharge from the ED.

However, finding the time to call each patient discharged from the high volume ED posed a challenge for the team. LGH sought a digital solution that would automate outreach to all discharged ED patients, allowing staff to focus phone calls on those who need it.

LGH turned to GetWell Loop’s automated patient engagement platform to better support and guide discharged patients. Here’s how GetWell Loop addressed the organization’s needs.

 

Solution & Approach

Supporting the Transition from Hospital to Home

LGH first launched GetWell Loop care plans with its bariatric and orthopedic service lines. The team chose these areas for their high levels of physician engagement and clearly defined pre-surgery readiness processes and post-acute follow-up schedules. They felt daily engagement would help prevent clinical complications after discharge.

In orthopedics, a nurse practitioner manages GetWell Loop before surgery, with physician assistants and nurse practitioners serving as first responders post-operatively. For bariatrics, the bariatric manager is solely responsible for managing GetWell Loop before and after surgery.

“GetWell Loop reduced our call volume because patients are getting the information they need through the platform,” says Alack. “It has created efficiencies in the team’s work so that they’re able to reach more patients in the same amount of time. And the feedback from patients is that they love GetWell Loop.”

STREAMLINING ED FOLLOW-UP

In the ED, the Care Call Center nurses hoped to assess discharge instruction understanding and overall recovery of discharged patients, as well as address questions and concerns. However, with about 175 discharged ED patients in the queue each day, calling every patient proved challenging. The team often had to prioritize the highest acuity patients first, meaning that lower acuity patients may not receive a call until the next day.

After discharge, every ED patient who provides an email address through Cerner is invited to join GetWell Loop. Those who activate answer a few short questions about their health status and others receive a phone call. The Care Call Center nurses monitor the GetWell Loop dashboard continually. When a patient submits a concerning response to a question, the staff receives an alert and responds promptly, usually with a GetWell Loop message and a voicemail message. “We’re reaching more people now than we were before. We’re able to quickly address concerns and provide resources, such as a referral to a physician. GetWell Loop offers an equal opportunity to quickly respond to all concerns, not just those from higher acuity patients,” says Lacey Carroll, RN, LGH.

Results

Lafayette General Health has seen impressive utilization and patient satisfaction numbers since rolling out GetWell Loop.