A result of over a year's worth of data science research and home healthcare's largest data-set, Kinnser RiskPoint was built to help solve the huge challenge of preventable patient readmissions. If this metric is a top priority for your organization- read here to learn more about the research and early results

1. Using Data
Science
to Tackle Hospital
Readmissions
Head On
By Wes Little

2. Across the United States, hospital
readmissions are a serious problem.
Readmission:
When a patient is readmitted to a hospital within 30 days of being
discharged.

3. In 2013, for example,
home health care patients
were readmitted to the
hospital at
a cost of $8.3 billion.
750,000

4. While the economic impact of
these readmissions is staggering,
it’s not the only one.

5. Events like these
also takes a huge
toll on the millions of
Americans who either
find themselves back
in the hospital or
caring for someone
who is.

6. Our
Industry’s
Challenge
of Medicare hospital
readmissions are potentially
preventable. *MedPAC
*Source: MedPAC http://www.medpac.gov/documents/reports/Jun07_Ch05.pdf
76%

7. That means that
570,000 home health
care patients went
back into the hospital
in 2013 when it could
have been avoided.

8. That’s $6.3 billion in
wasted taxpayer
dollars.

9. So if most hospital
readmissions can
be prevented,
how do we make
sure that they
are?

10. The key is to
know the warning
signs so that you
can give extra
attention and
care to those at
highest risk.

11. And that’s where data science can
play a role. But to get meaningful
results,
you need a lot of
data to work with.

12. At Kinnser Software,
we’ve got that in spades.
In fact, we have a bigger dataset than the three
largest US home health care agencies combined.
More than
3,000 home
health
providers
Over 10
years of
data
collection
Data on more than
3.5 million
patient episodes

13. Using that data,
we’ve identified
specific characteristics
that are common
among the patients
with the
highest rates of
hospital readmission.

14. And we’ve incorporated
those insights into a new
predictive model that
medical professionals can
use to identify at-risk
patients.

15. While these
characteristics aren’t
necessarily the cause
of readmission, there
is a strong
correlation that can
be used to predict
hospitalization based
on what we’ve
observed in our data.

16. Those patient characteristics
include things like:
Shortness of breath
Incontinence
Oxygen usage
History of congestive heart failure
Needing help with injected medication
Decreased appetite
Forgetfulness

17. And while many of these
characteristics are already widely
known to be predictors of
increased hospitalization risk...

18. … For clinical managers,
staying on top of those
variables across an average
of 50 patients can be a
major challenge.

19. In fact, staying up to
date on that many
patients, and knowing
which ones are at the
highest risk, can be
overwhelming.

20. It means combing
through all of the
documentation that
was entered into the
EHR system the night
before patient by
patient.

21. In the process, clinical
managers look for
notes that will alert
them to changes in
the status of each
patient.

22. It’s a manual and
time-consuming
process. As a
result, most
clinical managers
rely on what their
nurses tell them
to direct their
efforts.

23. But that’s not a reliable
solution and it can lead
to errors.

24. The good
news is that
there’s a
better way.

25. RiskPointTM is a new tool that will make
clinical managers’ lives a lot easier.

26. It systemizes and profiles risk
so that clinical managers
don’t have to rely on their gut
or anecdotal information to
do their job.

27. Instead, RiskPoint pulls all of the
relevant information from your EHR
system in one easy-to-read, prioritized
page.

28. What that means
is that if you’re a
clinical manager,
it will quickly
direct your
attention to those
patients who need
it most.

29. And it works.
Community Home Health in Oklahoma saw hospital
readmissions reduced by 29 percent in the first two
months of use compared to the same two-month period
the year before.

30. Want to learn
more?
Visit:
www.kinnser.com/riskpoint