Implementation of Telemedicine Consultation to Assess Unplanned Transfers in Rural Long-Term Care Facilities, 2012–2015: A Pilot Study

Introduction Public and private entities in the United States spend billions of dollars each year on potentially avoidable hospitalizations. This is a common occurrence in long-term care (LTC) facilities, especially in rural jurisdictions. This article details the creation of a telemedicine approach to assess residents from rural LTC facilities for potential transfer to hospitals. Methods An electronic LTC (eLTC) pilot was conducted in 20 pilot LTC facilities from 2012-2015. Each site underwent technologic assessment and upgrading to ensure that 2-way video communication was possible. A new central “hub” was staffed with advanced practice providers and registered nurses. Long-term care pilot sites were trained and rolled out over 3 years. This article reports development and implementation of the pilot, as well as descriptive statistics associated with provider assessments and averted transfers. Results Over 3 years, 736 eLTC consultations occurred in pilot sites. One-quarter of consultations occurred between 10 PM and 9 AM. Overall, approximately 31% of cases were transferred. This decreased from 54% of cases in 2013 to 17% in 2015. Rural pilot facilities had an average of 23 eLTC consults per site per year. Discussion Averted transfers represent a dramatic benefit to the residents, as potentially avoidable hospitalizations cause undue stress and allow for nosocomial infections, among other risks. In addition, averting these unnecessary transfers likely saved the taxpayers of the United States over $5 million in admission-related charges to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (511 avoided transfers × $11,000 per average hospitalization from a LTC facility). Conclusions Overall, the eLTC pilot showed promise as a proof-of-concept. The pilot's implementation resulted in increasing utilization and promising reductions in unnecessary transfers to emergency departments and hospitalizations.