Home health patients who participated in the BrightSpring Health Services medication adherence program had a 73.1% lower hospitalization rate than patients who did not participate in the program.
That’s according to a new study that took a closer look at drug intake among the company’s home health patients.
“The Continue CareRx program (CCRx) can help our industry address the rising cost of medication-related hospitalizations and improve patient medication adherence levels, all of which will lead to better Good health outcomes.” in a statement. “Medication management is a foundational and critical service for individuals with complex care and home health needs.”
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, BrightSpring is a home and community services provider serving 350,000 geriatric and specialty patients daily in all 50 states.
The company’s focus is on high-risk, high-need populations. According to the company, its patients suffer from an average of six chronic conditions. It provides 120 million hours of care each year, 75% of which is done in the home.
In 2021, BrightSpring created CCRx, a medication and risk management program designed to keep patients healthy at home.
According to the Journal of the American Association of Medical Directors, patients do not take their prescribed medications approximately 50% of the time. In addition, 33% to 69% of drug-related hospital admissions in the United States are due to poor medication compliance, costing the healthcare system approximately $100 billion annually.
To offset these hospitalizations, the CCRx program provides compliance packaging for home health patients as well as medication reconciliation, review and education for clinicians.
From May 2021 to March 31, 2023, 113 BrightSpring Home Health patients participated in CCRx.
The control group (patients outside the program) included more than 21,000 patients.
The study found that a total of 7,015 people were hospitalized in the control group and 21 in the CCRx group during the study period. This means there were 1,203 hospitalizations per 1,000 people per year in the control group and 324 hospitalizations per 1,000 people per year in the CCRx group.
“The results of this study are a strong demonstration of how integrating our company’s dual pharmacy and provider services expertise can uniquely help individuals with complex health care needs stay healthy at home,” Mills said. “Through CCRx, we are Meaningfully improving health care outcomes for the patients we serve and helping them live better lives through innovative and higher-touch patient programs.”
The study authors did report that factors influencing the large reduction in hospitalizations were likely multifactorial.
The decrease in hospitalizations may be related to improvements in medication adherence, reductions in medication-related hospitalizations, and fewer unnecessary admissions due to CCRx patients using nurse call centers rather than relying on emergency departments and hospital triage.
“Medication challenges and non-adherence are the leading causes of emergency room visits and hospitalizations in the United States, and we have a custom and proven solution for that,” Jon Rousseau, president and CEO of BrightSpring, said in a statement program that can deliver dramatically positive results for any patient across the country,” stated. “The successful CCRx study is another example of the very positive quality results achieved through our services and combining BrightSpring’s home healthcare and medication management solutions for better outcomes.”