Communities

Spring Hills Launches End-to-End Cardiac Program to Help Patients Transition from Hospital to Home

October 30, 2020

EDISON, N.J.–Spring Hills today announced that it has launched a new comprehensive cardiac program at three of its post-acute care facilities in New Jersey. Currently accepting patients in Livingston, Wayne and Woodbury, the program features a multidisciplinary medical team that delivers end-to-end cardiac care and innovative care delivery to ensure seamless transitions from hospital to home. The program also offers an alternative to acute hospital settings for those patients with cardiac disease who experience acute exacerbations of their conditions while at home.

“Safely transitioning patients from the hospital to home is one of the greatest challenges in health care today,” says Alex Markowits, Founder and President/CEO of Spring Hills. “We’ve seen the dynamic play out for our residents too many times: the step-down care was insufficient; the discharge plans were confusing; and families were overwhelmed by the complexity of the system and caring for very sick, high-risk loved ones. We also saw how expensive and frustrating it was for physicians, health systems and plans. So, Spring Hills decided to create a better, more cohesive model, beginning with cardiac care.”

Combining 20 years of post-acute and long-term care experience with the expertise of clinicians, heart specialists, and population health management and data analytic experts, the Spring Hills Cardiac Program represents the first in the company’s plans to develop clinical programs that treat specific health conditions and provide population health care. These programs will further integrate the existing Spring Hills communities, including post-acute, assisted living, memory care and home care services, and offer residents and patients uniquely comprehensive health care and services.

In addition to the clinical infrastructure and technologies to provide high-acuity care, the program’s nurse practitioners have specialized cardiac training. Every patient who enters the Cardiac Program has a baseline set, risk assessment, and medications reconciled upon entry. Patients are seen by a consulting cardiologist once a week, and an attending physician, who leads the patient’s multidisciplinary medical team, twice a week. This team, which includes Spring Hills Population Health associates, maintains regular communication with patients’ cardiologists and physicians throughout their stay and once they return home, to protect against compromising gaps in care.

“By increasing the frequency and depth of clinical care and monitoring, we decrease the length of stay and reduce the risk of post-discharge complications, hospital readmissions and ER visits,” said Dr. Andrew Pecora, who designed the Spring Hills Cardiac Program.

Spring Hills is the first program in New Jersey to use non-invasive hemodynamic technology for cardiac monitoring in a post-acute setting. “This technology provides on-site clinicians immediate, actionable data points that typically only a hospital can provide,” Dr. Pecora explains. “For example, we now can detect sepsis 32 hours earlier than by a blood test, and with advance-identification of silent conditions, we can prevent certain cardiac events altogether. This saves lives. And with the sickest 10% of Americans accounting for 80% of health care spend, it also saves money.”

Spring Hills Population Health, fully integrated into all medical care teams, establishes relationships with the patient and family at the hospital to facilitate a smooth transition to the Spring Hills cardiac unit. This relationship is ongoing, to ensure that patients and families are supported both during their stay and for 90 days after discharge from the cardiac unit. This includes coordination of care, intense engagement with the patient and caregiver through personalized communication channels, follow up doctor appointments, home visits, remote monitoring, and addressing and removing social and financial barriers to access to care. The average hospital readmission rate after 90 days is 23-27%. Spring Hills’ rate is less than 10%.

“Patients are more likely to follow their recovery plan if they feel genuinely cared for, and accountable to, a caregiver,” says Monica Wallace, Vice President of Nursing and Clinical Programs at Spring Hills. “We build trust with the patient and family. This not only increases their confidence and commitment to improving their health, but it also increases the likelihood that a patient will reach out to us for help before a concern becomes a real problem.”

While currently focused on building these three programs in New Jersey, Spring Hills intends to scale the cardiac program to support collaboration with additional partners as opportunities emerge. Spring Hills operates 28 communities in 7 states.

Markowits shares the story behind the Spring Hills Cardiac Program on his blog.
To partner with Spring Hills or refer a patient to the Cardiac Program, please contact info@spring-hills.net.

About Spring Hills:

Spring Hills Post-Acute Care, Assisted Living, and Memory Care communities and Home Care services provide comprehensive support for seniors and those with chronic health needs. All communities have a personal and distinctive approach and ensure the highest standards for proactive health care and quality of living, at every stage of a resident’s life.

Led by Alexander Markowits, Founder and President/CEO, Spring Hills is committed to providing seamless care experiences that meet the unique needs and preferences of residents, patients, and their families. Spring Hills has 28 facilities across seven states: Post-Acute Care in NJ; Assisted Living and Home Care in NJ, VA, OH, FL and NV; and Memory Care in TX, VA, NV and FL. For more information, visit www.spring-hills.com or www.poetswalk-springhills.com.

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