MEDITECH and PtCT: Leading a New Era of Home Care Technology (9/08/2008)

With chronic diseases on the rise, today's patients have a greater need for medical care that stretches outside the traditional physician office and hospital settings. To address this, MEDITECH's wholly-owned subsidiary Patient Care Technologies (PtCT) offers functionalities which streamline the process of managing the home care environment by collecting data which automatically populates the electronic patient record—thus ensuring both efficient and cost-effective care practices. "Home health and hospice agencies need a comprehensive solution to meet the demands of our expanding home care community, and also to manage changing reimbursement regulations," says PtCT Director of Home Care Sales Brian Doyle. "MEDITECH and PtCT are combining their efforts to provide customers with the tools to overcome these challenges, and stay ahead of the curve as this industry evolves." Managing Home Care Processes with Maestro Maestro, PtCT's next generation information system, is the process-based, task-driven software that can integrate the home care environment as Doyle proposes. Maestro was built from the ground up on the principle of intelligent process management, and combines business intelligence and business activity monitoring to empower organizations to improve patient safety and outcomes. "Maestro guides the user through each care function—such as care coordination and care planning—while offering prompts to users to suggest what future actions should be taken," explains Doyle. "This system is specially designed to suit the home care and hospice environments, and the unique responsibilities of these caregivers." Beyond managing processes, Maestro also measures results in real time, enhancing a home care organization's ability to respond to deviations from desired processes and results. Most importantly, Maestro provides the platform for agencies to mobilize their data through actionable, measurable processes—so they can operate in a manner which drives the business end of their agency. "Maestro bridges the gap between your care goals and your outcomes, so you can adjust care practices accordingly to meet your strategic objectives. If a clinician is challenged by adhering to your agency's best practices, then you'll quickly know it if you're using our system," says Doyle. "By taking on a process-driven approach and comparing your agency's organizational performance against its stated goals, our software ensures there are no unpleasant surprises." Stretching the Boundaries of Care Both Maestro and well@home, PtCT's telecare offering for patients to use in their private residences, are designed to integrate seamlessly with MEDITECH's existing platforms and the groundbreaking 6.0 Release. "Whether patients visit a primary care physician or the local hospital, they should feel confident all their medical data will be accessible to those clinicians who need it—so they will always receive quality care, no matter where they are seeking it," Doyle says. PtCT is also currently working on adding a hospice service line to the Maestro system. It employs the same process-oriented, task-based infrastructure to drive end-users through the specific requirements of hospice care. Currently in field testing, it is expected to go LIVE at an early adopter site this fall. "We're creating a complete hospice solution, not a 're-badged' home health system," says Steve Miller, PtCT's chief technical officer. "Hospice is a very expensive stage of care, which involves keeping track of extensive service agencies as well as strict reimbursement policies set by the federal government. Our system facilitates clear communication among the hospice care team, keeping everyone on the same page and closely attending to the patient's needs as their conditions dictate." Paving the Way with Customers and Early Adopters Over the past year, PtCT and MEDITECH have been working closely with early adopter sites for Maestro. Five sites are now LIVE fully with Maestro's Home Health Service Line, while three more are LIVE with Maestro's Home Health financial processes only, and several more are going LIVE fully this fall. We are very excited to share that one of our fully LIVE Maestro customers, Punxsutawney Home Health, has also taken well@home LIVE as well. "Our vision has always been that of telecare as a normal, routine, and fully integrated part of the home care business process. Maestro and the fact that we, alone, have developed both the telecare software and the agency management software provides the platform with which Punxsutawney Home Health has made this vision a reality," says Doyle. "We've made great progress with customers over the past year, and our relationship with MEDITECH is certainly key to our future success in serving the home care environment," says Steve Miller. "Together, we're providing home care agencies with the tools to both optimize the financial potential of their enterprise, and also deliver safe patient care across the continuum. It's a win-win situation for our companies, for caregivers, and definitely for patients as well."