BOWIE, Md., April 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — The Maryland Center at Bowie State University has formed a partnership with Intelaform, Inc., and VisualMED Clinical Solutions Corporation, market leaders in healthcare information and communications, to develop a Community-Based Care Transition Program (CCTP) for the state of Maryland.
Care transitions occur when a patient moves from one health care setting to another. In the instance, that people living with serious illnesses move from the hospital to home or a nursing center, they may be at risk for readmission to the hospital if they develop a complication. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has launched an initiative to reduce hospital readmissions by 20% by 2013. To begin with, the agency plans to spend $500 million -or half of the $1 billion earmarked in the Affordable Care Act for improving patient safety- to help hospitals and their community partners decrease readmissions over a five year period ending in 2016.The Maryland Center Transition Care Program (The Program) will focus specifically on the needs of elderly patients transitioning from a hospital setting back to the home environment.
According to a 2007 report of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, readmissions to the hospital are estimated to cost Medicare approximately $15 billion, nearly $12 billion of which is for causes considered preventable. In Maryland, hospital readmissions are estimated to cost $300 million annually. The Program is designed to assist the patient during the critical transition period and thereby significantly decrease the number of preventable hospitalizations.
The Maryland Center, an affiliated foundation of the University System of Maryland, has as its charter to eliminate disparities, including those in health, and simultaneously enhance research and development on behalf of Bowie State University. Its new public/private partnership with VisualMED Clinical Solutions Corp., and Intelaform, Inc. will have as a primary goal the development of a CCTP. The initial program will focus on Maryland, and could be expanded across the entire National Capital Region.
The MD Center CCTP is the first of its kind in Maryland. The program will focus on five key areas for aging patients, cardiovascular, diabetes, urological, pulmonary, and dermatological and seek significant reductions in each.
This program is unique among CCTP programs in that it will provide patient surveillance and “concierge” services to transitioning patients and will integrate the latest technologies in managing health information to enhance the capabilities of all involved parties – hospitals, physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers – to respond to the needs of the transitioning patient.
Intelaform will provide patient surveillance and concierge services, treatment management and patient care management systems to monitor and individually manage each patient’s needs. VisualMED Clinical Solutions will provide mobile medical applications and the patient treatment infrastructure with secure access and tracking capabilities to enable real-time collection, aggregation, and sharing of information.
“As designed, this landmark program can be quickly replicated across the United States, reducing Medicare costs by billions of dollars and adding to the quality of life of millions of elderly patients and their families,” said J. Randall Hoggle, PD, Chairman of the Board of Intelaform, Inc.
“The Transition Center is an innovative program with the potential to permanently transform transitional care for millions of the most vulnerable citizens in our community. The Maryland Center is proud to be a part of this historic partnership,” remarkedTerry Lawlah, executive director of the Maryland Center at Bowie State University.
“Transitional care and reduction of readmissions can truly be implemented in a safe and effective manner when using mobile medical and nursing applications” stated Gerard Dab, CEO of VisualMED Solutions Corp.
About The Maryland Center at Bowie State University
The Maryland Center at Bowie State University, Inc is a non-profit organization that is an affiliated foundation of the University System of Maryland located on the campus of Bowie State University. As an affiliated foundation, the Center engages in and supports activities to further enhance the educational, research or service mission of Bowie State University. Through this collaboration, The Maryland Center and Bowie State work in concert to increase the research capacity of the University. For more information, visit www.themarylandcenter.org.
About Intelaform
Intelaform, Inc. is a global leader in emergency preparedness and response planning and deployment, medical and biosurveillance and a premier source for healthcare product monitoring and surveillance. Intelaform is a Delaware C-Corporation founded in 2007 as a spin out business of Health Pathways, Inc. with intellectual property from a series of global government agencies and private sector emergency preparedness and response projects and healthcare asset management and monitoring programs. Intelaform global headquarters are in Rockville, Maryland, USA. For more information, visitwww.intelaform.com.
About VisualMED
VisualMED markets smart EHR with Clinical Information Systems (CIS) and Computerized Physician Order Entry that meet the new regulatory environment ushered in by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Health Reform Act of 2010. VisualMED offers a powerful technology platform both scalable and interoperable, developed at a cost of some $40 million and tested over many years in tertiary care and ambulatory environments. VisualMED solutions help medical facilities reduce mortality and morbidity due to medical errors, increase provider efficiency, and bring down operating costs. The key clinical components are a core solution in the new agenda to promote greater patient safety and reduce risks due to medication errors. For more information, visit www.visualmedsolutions.com.
Media Contact: Ina Ramos Maryland Center at Bowie State University, 301-860-4306, iramos@bowiestate.edu
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