University of Miami Health Care was the recipient of a HealthTrust Innovation Grant at the 2016 HealthTrust University Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Established two years ago, the annual grant sponsors and rewards new, scalable ideas for advancing healthcare by improving care delivery, health outcomes, cost savings, operational efficiency and/or population health.
The $50,000 award provides a $25,000 grant and $25,000 in HealthTrust service line expertise.
University of Miami Health Care was selected for its idea to build a “Life Skills Gym.” The Life Skills Gym will be part of the inpatient standard of care for total hip and knee replacement patients of the University of Miami Hospital, allowing these individuals to practice at-home therapy in preparation for discharge. Additionally, the space will be incorporated into discharge plans for spine and orthopedic oncology patients.
“Fear of not being able to perform activities of daily living, such as taking a shower or climbing stairs, is the reason many total joint patients get sent to a skilled nursing or in-patient rehabilitation facility upon discharge from the hospital,” says Michael Schlosser, M.D., chief medical officer for HealthTrust. “By improving the confidence of patients recovering at home, we expect the Life Skills Gym will reduce overutilization of post-acute care with no negative impact on outcomes. And that’s a key objective of every hospital operating in an increasingly value-based care environment.”
In addition, HealthTrust will provide advisory support to University of Miami Health Care to better manage overall care episodes for total hip and knee replacement patients and identify evidence-based approaches to improving supply utilization. A best-practice toolkit will also be created, allowing other HealthTrust members to build similar inpatient gyms.
University of Miami Health Care and HealthTrust will share a progress report at next year’s HTU conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.
