SCI Solutions Launches Readmission Minimizer™ to Help Hospitals Reduce Preventable Readmissions and Decrease Risk of Medicare Penalties

Unique Offering Electronically Consolidates Post-Discharge Processes and Workflow Strategy to Manage Full Continuum of Discharge Care

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today SCI Solutions announced the launch of Readmission Minimizer™, a new readmissions management solution designed to streamline the way hospitals track and monitor post-discharge processes to reduce avoidable readmissions, enhance patient care quality and mitigate risks of CMS financial penalties.

“SCI’s unique tools enable hospitals to simplify discharge and post-discharge processes by electronically coordinating discharge orders, instructions and referrals through organized workflows by patient condition”

Under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, hospitals began experiencing a reduction in payments related to preventable readmissions for conditions related to AMI (acute myocardial infarction), CHF (congestive heart failure) and PN (pneumonia) as of Oct. 1, 2012. By 2015, the list of conditions will grow to include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary artery bypass grafts, percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) and some vascular surgeries. Medicare penalties will start at 1% in 2013 and will increase to 2% and 3% in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Hospitals’ avoidable readmission rates have come under close scrutiny by payers and policymakers because of the potential of high savings associated with them, according to the Health Care Leader Action Guide to Reduce Avoidable Readmissions.

Hospitals – particularly those that have been identified by CMS as having excess preventable readmissions – must deploy solutions to streamline post-discharge follow-up and patient compliance that support the financial health of the organization and improve the healing process for patients.

“SCI’s unique tools enable hospitals to simplify discharge and post-discharge processes by electronically coordinating discharge orders, instructions and referrals through organized workflows by patient condition,” said Joel French, president and CEO of SCI Solutions. “Readmission Minimizer provides an effective Discharge/Post-Discharge Management solution, leveraging SCI’s widely deployed Order Facilitator™ and Schedule Maximizer™ software services.”

McLeod Health, a five-hospital system in Florence, SC, leveraged SCI tools during a six-month trial and achieved significant reduction in preventable acute myocardial infarction (AMI) readmissions. Initially facing a penalty for ranking 2.5% above the U.S. average for AMI, McLeod Health System executives now have mitigated their risk of future penalties. McLeod now plans to use SCI tools to track and monitor all of their discharge cases for the purpose of reducing readmissions, increasing patient satisfaction and heightening awareness of post-discharge problems that lead to early intervention.

“Our goal with implementing this project was to ensure that patients received the highest quality, evidence-based care at the right level of care to support their healing process,” explained Lesli Kennedy, AVP of Case Management at McLeod Health. “We realized they would need a tool to easily track post-discharge phone calls with the ability to provide the reporting necessary to know if the methodology was working. I knew the SCI Solutions infrastructure had the ability to customize rules with a robust workflow engine incorporating the reporting capabilities we needed to make this project successful.”

About SCI Solutions:

SCI builds, implements and operates healthcare business process software for a network of over 500 hospitals, diagnostic imaging centers, physicians and post-acute organizations. Operating a national referral network utilized by approximately 60,000 physicians, SCI’s cloud-based platform is transforming healthcare with rules-based, workflow-enabled community solutions that orchestrate patient care across hospital service areas regardless of originating or destination systems. SCI’s Schedule Maximizer® and Order Facilitator® offerings are both ranked among the Best in KLAS™ by KLAS Research. For additional information, please visit www.scisolutions.com.