UnityPoint Health Transforms Specialty Care with Multiple Telemedicine Programs
Access TeleCare Case Study
UnityPoint Health partnered with us to launch a multi-hospital solution for their neurology and behavioral health care services to increase care access, reduce costs by $1.7 million, and boost revenue by more than 300 percent.
Multi-Hospital Telemedicine Solutions
The Challenge
As a regional health system serving communities throughout Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, UnityPoint Health’s team relied heavily on locums providers. Plagued by challenges to recruit in-person providers to its rural markets, UnityPoint Health faced significant financial pressure and needed coverage for specialty neurology and behavioral health care to service patient demand across its network of 20 regional hospitals, 19 community network hospitals, and over 400 clinics.
The Solution
UnityPoint Health partnered with Access TeleCare to launch teleNeurology services including teleStroke, teleNeurohospitalist, and Remote EEG interpretations, as well as virtual behavioral health services for Emergency Department consults and consultation-liaison psychiatry services in their ICU and med-surg units. The partnership started in 2017 with three hospitals. Currently, the partnership has expanded to eight hospitals across two markets.
Access TeleCare’s telemedicine programs gave the health system the flexibility to meet the needs of its rural and urban hospitals, and Access TeleCare’s fully-integrated specialists and easy-to-use technology allowed for seamless implementation of multiple specialty programs.
“By bringing in Access TeleCare’s behavioral health providers, we’ve been able to reduce wait times, reduce boarding, get patients that are suicidal out of 1-to-1 monitoring more quickly, and [provide a] better patient experience because of faster response times – our providers and patients are happier.”
– Cate Ranheim M.D. | UnityPoint Health interim chief medical officer
Access TeleCare helped UnityPoint Health seamlessly launch neurology and behavioral health programs simultaneously, quickly transforming specialty care for patients across several hospitals and markets.
Learn more about our programs and how comprehensive telemedicine programs can transform specialty care for your hospital.
TeleNeurology solutions include:
Behavioral Health solutions include:
Results
300% Revenue Increase
300% Revenue Increase
After launching a teleStroke program, the health system saw a revenue increase of 300 percent, with an additional increase of 130 percent after adding teleNeurohospitalist coverage.
Saved $1.7 Million
Saved $1.7 Million
With telemedicine, the health system avoided $1.7 million in annualized boarding costs.
281% ROI
281% ROI
UnityPoint Health achieved a 281 percent ROI after implementing a behavioral health telemedicine program.
Reduced Length of Stay
Reduced Length of Stay
The health system reduced average length of stay by 11.8 hours for behavioral health patients.
Keys to Program Success
Together, Access TeleCare’s programs produced tremendous financial, operational, and patient experience improvements for UnityPoint Health.
Quick response times, high levels of engagement with on-site providers, and fully integrated telemedicine specialists delivered sustainable solutions for UnityPoint Health’s most pressing clinical priorities, such as rapid acute stroke identification. “We’re flying through stroke surveys now,” Dr. Cate Ranheim, UnityPoint Health’s interim chief medical officer noted.
Patients now have timely access to the specialty care they need, and the health system’s on-site care teams are better equipped and supported to provide optimal health outcomes without increasing burnout. The system also achieved significant financial benefits including a more than 300 percent increase in neurology revenue, a 61 percent improvement in behavioral health response times, and an ROI of 281 percent through reduced ED boarding costs.
Access TeleCare Helps Hospitals Overcome Their Toughest Challenges
In this webinar, two industry veterans and innovators explored firsthand experiences and successful strategies in deploying telemedicine solutions to overcome challenges such as access to care, timeliness of care, and workforce issues, with a special focus on behavioral health and neurology programs.
More on Access TeleCare’s Telemedicine Programs
Access TeleCare Leader Discusses Research on Link Between Loneliness and Stroke
Access TeleCare’s medical director of quality and practicing neurologist Elaine [...]
Hospital Leaders Highlight Widespread Behavioral Health Staff Turnover Challenges
Rising demand for behavioral health services exacerbates an existing [...]
For Rural Communities, Telemedicine Addresses More than a Shortage of Providers
Psychology Today highlights telemedicine’s role in overcoming a variety of [...]