Predictive Analytics, Home Health Monitoring Combine for Better Care

CareSage is a new predictive analytics engine from Royal Philips that enables health systems to better monitor and care for elderly patients by combining actionable insights with wearable devices and monitoring. CareSage provides analysis of real-time and historical data from healthcare providers and Philips Lifeline to identify patients most likely to have health issues so clinicians can intervene before problems occur, helping patients stay healthier and reducing avoidable hospitalizations.

CareSage is built on the Philips HealthSuite Digital Platform, an open cloud-based platform that supports the secure collection and analysis of health and lifestyle data from multiple sources and devices. Designed to support population health management, CareSage utilizes Philips Lifeline’s AutoAlert technology and aging and health data to focus on senior patients when they return home after a hospital visit or home healthcare period.

“Coming home after a hospital stay is a relief for seniors, but it also comes with potential risks. By reviewing data from CareSage’s analytics and our wearable medical alert devices, health systems can predict when their at-home patients are likely to be hospitalized and intervene in advance,” said Kimberly O’Loughlin, senior vice president and general manager of Home Monitoring, Philips.

Today, seniors use more healthcare resources per capita than any other group, and two-thirds of Medicare recipients are dealing with more than one chronic condition[i] [ii]. Poor transitions in care are a key cause of unnecessary readmissions, emergency department visits. and hospitalizations for seniors, which lead to both health and cost concerns. Health systems are looking to provide better outcomes at lower costs by extending care into the home, where many seniors’ health events occur. At the same time, while fewer than half of people who own wearable devices and fitness trackers actually use them every day, seniors have been active consumers of wearables for years in the form of medical alert services. When combined with predictive analytics, wearables for seniors can have a dramatic impact in proactively managing their health.

“More than half of frail and elderly patients are discharged without any long-term monitoring, leaving them cut off from their care while at home. Staying connected with these patients in between check-ups can help keep them healthy and help prevent events that could send them back to the hospital, which is our ultimate goal in patient care,” said Michael Hamaker, president, WellSpan VNA Home Care.

CareSage’s approach combines predictive analytics and senior-friendly home monitoring management and service tools that may allow health systems to provide better preventative care and care coordination; increase patient satisfaction and improve quality of life issues; reduce long-term (beyond 30 days) avoidable readmissions; and improve health outcomes and cost savings.

[i] Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Chronic Conditions among Medicare Beneficiaries, (Baltimore, MD, 2012)

[ii] “Medicare Spending By Year,” US Government Spending, accessed April 2, 2015, http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/medicare_spending_by_year