WASHINGTON, August 1, 2016—ViiMed®, the personalized care coaching and coordination platform, today announced a new cloud-based application,EXTEND, to connect patients and care teams in bundled care programs like total joint surgery. As health care organizations move toward bundled payments, EXTEND helps them standardize variations in care to streamline operations, reduce costs, shorten lengths of stay, avoid complications, improve satisfaction, and drive positive patient outcomes.
On April 1, 2016, CMS announced a new model that tests bundled payments for total hip and total knee replacement surgeries. With an aim to improve care coordination and quality from pre-hospitalization through recovery, the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model applies to over 800 hospitals in 67 geographic areas. Hospitals in these areas are now accountable for the quality and cost of care throughout a patient’s entire treatment process, with financial incentives and penalties based on compliance. The rule was recently expanded to include hip and femur fractures, as well.
Initially, EXTEND will help hospitals meet CJR standards by facilitating care team coordination and improving patient satisfaction and outcomes. Using automated coaching programs, personalized video education, and secure messaging, care team members (i.e., surgeons, nurses, and clinical coordinators) can collaborate with each other and with patients anytime, anywhere. Automated alerts and coordinator dashboards help providers engage the most high-risk patients using both device- and patient-reported data, reducing potential complications and readmissions. With EXTEND, providers can spend less time handling paperwork and phone calls, and more time with patients needing care. 
Orthopaedic patients stay connected to their care team through the web and mobile devices, keeping them informed and on track. They can also access educational resources developed in partnership with leading hospitals in the United States, reducing the need for physician phone calls and questions. These factors lead to greater patient satisfaction, loyalty, and engagement.
“This is a transformative moment for health care,” said Phil Newman, founder and CEO of ViiMed. “Digital tools like EXTEND help health care organizations meet their most challenging regulatory needs, while delivering an engaging patient experience and improving overall outcomes. We’re excited to partner with hospitals and physician practices to discover how technology can help meet their goals and drive competitive advantages for them in the industry.”
Health care providers using ViiMed’s technology are already driving great results like saving time in the practice, reducing uneventful follow-up visits, preventing complications before they happen, and improving communication between coordinators and patients. Additionally, the patient care program completion rate is an outstanding 87%.
EXTEND is fully customizable and integrates with existing technologies like electronic health records. To learn more about EXTEND, please visithttp://www.viimed.com/extend.
ViiMed will host a webinar August 9 at 2pm ET about how care coordination can drive bundled payment success. To register, please visithttp://www.viimed.com/cjr-webinar.
About ViiMed
ViiMed helps health care providers deliver better patient care, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. Using cloud-based, automated, personalized care coaching programs, we help patients and care teams collaborate, while addressing some of the most challenging regulatory and operational demands for health systems and providers. Based in Washington, D.C., ViiMed’s solutions are trusted by industry-leading health systems and large provider groups in orthopaedic surgery, neurosurgery and spine, chronic care management for diabetes, congestive heart failure, and COPD, and employee-based care.