Activate Care and LifeBridge Sherri Project (LifeBridge), a palliative care company, have partnered to provide comprehensive and coordinated services to those diagnosed with terminal illness in an effort to make end-of-life care seamless, compassionate and navigable for patients, their families and caregivers.
LifeBridge is a newly formed organization that has developed a proprietary model and methodology to assure early and appropriate communication, drive timely and relevant care, and support people in the ways that matter to them at the end of their life. Utilizing multi-disciplinary community care teams and customized project plans, the company partners nationally with physicians who wish to offer high-quality palliative care to their patients in a “concierge medicine” model. This approach fills the void that exists between traditional medical care and hospice care, improving quality of life and lowering costs for patients and payers alike.
Palliative care introduces an added level of complexity that requires thoughtful and strong coordination, reliable processes, and real-time collaboration amongst everyone supporting these patients. This complexity influences utilization, with more than 40 percent of patients seeing 10 or more doctors in the last six months of their lives (Reference 1) and approximately half of total Medicare spending for people who die in a given year allocated to hospital inpatient expenses. (Ref 2) This has been the case for years despite the fact that only 30% of people have discussed their wishes for end-of-life care – a task that 90% of people think is important to do. (Ref 3)
“For too long our healthcare system has failed to account for the quality of life and preferences of people at the end of life,” said Dr. Randy Rhodes, President and CEO of LifeBridge. “The reality for our loved ones is that their final weeks and months of life can and should be richly lived, filled with rewarding experiences. LifeBridge exists to promote that fulfillment for everyone to the end, starting with a conversation about end-of-life care and then offering the structure and resources to help patients and families follow the patient’s plan.”
To achieve this mission, LifeBridge empowers physicians to offer comprehensive and high-quality palliative care to their patients. Core to the model is a cloud-based technology, Activate Care, used to develop and share an individualized care plan, coordinate resources and activities, standardize workflows, deliver education, and engage in secure and private discussions.
“We started LifeBridge to give the terminally ill and their caregivers the freedom to be less concerned about dying with dignity and preparing for the end, and more focused on living well and being empowered to receive the care they want,” said Dr. Rhodes. “Activate Care is our technology and development partner in this effort to transform palliative care and the platform is integral to our success.”
Activate Care’s platform for team-based care combines cloud-based care coordination tools with high-touch, personal support for patients and care teams with a mission to simplify complex care for everyone involved. The platform is deployed in organizations across the country working to transform care delivery models and achieve the Triple Aim.
“Palliative care is in an area that desperately needs innovation,” said Ted Quinn, Activate Care CEO. “Most of us would prefer to die at home than in a hospital, yet the final wishes of too many people are ignored or never considered. We want to restore some humanity to healthcare. Everybody deserves to have an advance care plan that respects their wishes and the support system required to follow that care plan when the time comes. LifeBridge powered by Activate Care is going to improve the lives of people living with terminal illnesses.”
REFERENCES
(1) The Joint Commission: http://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/23/quick_safety_issue_fifteen_july_20151.pdf
(2) Kaiser Family Foundation: http://kff.org/medicare/fact-sheet/10-faqs-medicares-role-in-end-of-life-care/
(3) Institute for Healthcare Improvement: http://theconversationproject.org/starter-kit/intro/
ABOUT LIFEBRIDGE
LifeBridge serves terminally ill patients, their family members, physicians and other caregivers by facilitating meaningful decision making, important medical and social project plans, and key relationships to relieve suffering and to optimize the most challenging chapter of life.
ABOUT Activate Care
Activate Care is a digital health company that simplifies complex care for everyone involved. Activate CareHub™ connects all care team members and drives coordinated action through one cloud-based interoperable platform. Activate Care's Care Traffic Control™ extends the impact of care teams while supporting patients and preventing system failures. Learn more at http://www.activatecare.com
