HAP Resource Center

Case Study: Mercy Home Health 2019 Achievement Award

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Awarded for:  Managing CHF from the Home:  IV Diuretic Program, Improves Disease Management and Reduces Hospital Readmissions

Excellence in Care

Medium Organizations

The goal:  Provide better quality of life and reduce avoidable hospital readmissions by empowering patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) to receive intravenous (IV) diuretic therapy at home.

Mercy Home Health Clinical teamDue to transportation issues and the scarcity of outpatient IV diuretic services, many of Mercy Home Health’s patients with CHF lacked access to treatment in their neighborhoods and communities. Mercy Home Health established an interdisciplinary team to provide high-quality IV diuretic therapy in patients’ homes.

Launched during April 2018, the CHF IV Diuretic Program:

  • Includes home-health policies and competencies for staff
  • Installs telehealth equipment in patients’ homes
  • Educates patients about how to use the equipment to track daily vital signs, including weight
  • Includes physician management and home care nurse visits to start patients’ IV diuretic protocol when treatment is needed
  • Provides support to help patients make follow-up post-treatment appointments with cardiologists

Results:  As of February 2019, 10 patients had entered the program and experienced an average 5.5 percent 30-day readmission rate, as compared to an overall 13 percent readmission rate for Pennsylvania patients who do not receive telehealth services.

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Topics: Population Health, Quality Initiatives

Revision Date: 9/1/2019

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