Tag: Encore Healthcare

WATERLOO, Iowa – The cost of delivering home medical equipment continues to rise, according to the results of a new survey from VGM & Associates.  The survey of nearly 100 HME providers in eight regions of the U.S. looked at the increase in cost of goods, employee wages and freight, as well as cost of delivery per mile, PPE and average wages.   “While I suspected the various costs and related factors in securing appropriate HME delivery services would increase –...

LIVINGSTON, Tenn. – Encore Healthcare has named Ray Gregg as vice president of sales & business development. Gregg brings more than two decades of experience in respiratory care, including the HME, sleep lab and the medical device industries. He spent nine years at ResMed, where he served as clinical specialist, territory manager and area clinical manager for the Western half of the U.S. and helped to launch a variety of products, including their first ventilator. That was followed by three...

Q. How can I leverage my new expertise with outcomes-based models for payer contracts?  A. It’s about continuing to manage goals and broadening outcomes. Payers have members, not patients. That means your perspective in the home has to expand beyond the disease (like COPD) to factors that influence overall health. Are there other factors, such as poorly managed or undiagnosed co-morbidities, that need to be raised to a physician? Are there social factors, such as lack of transportation,...

Q. Why should I manage “beyond the box” when that's what I'm getting paid for?  A. Patient-focused outcomes are rapidly becoming how home care is evaluated, not just compliance data. In other words, yes, providers may be paid today based on equipment, but they will be selected based upon their ability to document and drive outcomes. CMS plans to have 100% of reimbursement tied to quality and outcomes by the year 2030. This means everyone providing patient care will have...

Q. What are the components of an outcome-based program?   A. Traditional expectations of DME services are focused on therapy compliance and basic equipment education – that's the starting point. Value-based models demand a provider move from product-centered care to patient-centered care. The key to a successful transition to these models is adding sophisticated clinical metrics on top of excellent compliance results. These clinical metrics measure goal performance, objective...

LIVINGSTON, Tenn. – Encore Healthcare has announced that its vice president of clinical operations, Carrie Hylton-Proffitt, RRT, has earned certification by the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) to provide consulting services. Hylton-Proffitt completed an intensive consultant training program demonstrating competence in ACHC survey preparation, including comprehensive knowledge of standards and processes for pharmacy and DMEPOS. “At Encore Healthcare, we are committed to...

Q. Why are outcomes in the home respiratory care space becoming so important?   A. Health care delivery in the U.S. is rapidly changing with emerging value-based care, accountable care organizations and other at-risk models. Hospitals, physician groups and payers are on the hook for creating better outcomes at a lower cost.   The best way to accomplish this is finding partners in post-acute care who have the willingness and ability to effect change with chronic patient populations....

LIVINGSTON, Tenn. – With more than 27,000 patients now managed through NEXUS, Encore Healthcare was able to publish studies in CHEST and other journals recently that show its respiratory therapy management software improves outcomes.  Among the key take-aways from the studies: NEXUS can reduce hospital admissions by about 60% and it can improve medication management by about 41%.  “We’re at a tipping point,” said Zach Gantt,...

LIVINGSTON, Tenn. – Encore Healthcare has released the third version of its Nexus platform. The company, a vendor partner of VGM & Associates, says Version 3.0 makes it easy to tailor the software into a program to meet the growth, clinical and compliance goals of respiratory HME providers at any level. “With the launch of V3, Encore is releasing a Nexus solution for companies who are not ready for the full clinically enhanced disease management platform but want to take the first step...