Washington, D.C. – May 20, 2009 – A group of prominent healthcare leaders, clinicians, researchers and policy makers today announced the launch of the Institute for Interactive Patient Care (IIPC).  The Institute has been formed to demonstrate and advocate for the importance of patient engagement as a means for improving quality, service and cost performance outcomes in American healthcare.

The IIPC has two principal functions:

• To conduct research that will establish the efficacy of patient engagement on advancing hospital quality, safety, service and financial outcomes, as well as patient outcomes; and

• To utilize these findings to establish and promote patient engagement policy, standards and requirements for healthcare providers.

The IIPC is governed by a 15-member National Advisory Board and will publish formal research studies.  The Institute expects that its work will hold high visibility in the national healthcare reform dialogue.

David B. Nash, MD, MBA, founding dean, Jefferson School of Population Health, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, is serving as the chair of the IIPC’s National Advisory Board.  Membership of this Board includes:

• David B. Nash, MD, MBA, founding dean, Jefferson School of Population Health, Thomas Jefferson University
• David Wright, MPH, executive director, Institute for Interactive Patient Care
• Rhonda Anderson, RN, DNSc, FAAN, FACHE, pediatric administrator/service line administrator, Banner Health
• Leah Binder, MA, MGA, chief executive officer, The Leapfrog Group
• John Boyce, MD, section chief, Infectious Diseases, Hospital of Saint Raphael
• Patrick Cawley, MD, FACP, chief medical officer, Medical University of South Carolina
• Karen N. Drenkard, RN, PhD, NEA-BC, FAAN, director, Magnet Recognition Program, American Nurses Association
• Val Gokenbach, RN, PhD, vice president and chief nurse executive, Beaumont Health System
• Jerod Loeb, PhD, executive vice president, Division of Research, The Joint Commission
• David Merritt, vice president and national policy director, Center for Health Transformation
• Michael O’Neil, Jr., JD, MBA, founder and chief executive officer, GetWellNetwork, Inc.
• Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH, professor, Harvard School of Public Health and Medical School
• Brian Robinson, executive vice president, The Studer Group
• Barbara Summers, RN, PhD, chief nurse executive, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Charlotte Yeh, MD, FACEP, chief medical officer, AARP Services, Inc

“We are extremely pleased to have assembled this prominent group of leaders to guide the work of the IIPC,” said Dr. Nash.  “As an industry, we have been talking about the importance of more actively engaging patients and their families into their care process – particularly in the hospital setting – for some time. Yet, little has been done to formally evaluate the impact of patient engagement on quality, safety and service outcomes in our nation’s hospitals.  The Institute will serve a valuable role in formally measuring and quantifying the efficacy of patient engagement in improving patient outcomes and advancing hospital performance. This is exciting work that I believe will move healthcare forward.”

Founder of the Center for Health Transformation (CHT) and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich notes that the formation of the IIPC is significant in the American healthcare transformation process.  “We at the Center for Health Transformation are pleased to partner with the IIPC. Their work is both relevant and timely and will be pivotal as American healthcare is transformed.  We look forward to the Institute’s findings and welcome this research in the national health reform dialogue.”

The research will measure the impact of patient engagement using an emerging inpatient care delivery model known as Interactive Patient Care (IPC).  Using innovative bedside technology, IPC proactively engages patients and their families as active participants in their hospital care process.

GetWellNetwork, Inc., recognized by the American Hospital Association as the industry leader in Interactive Patient Care, is the founding sponsor of the Institute, providing the funding and staffing to support the research and advocacy initiatives for 2009-2010.  In addition, GetWellNetwork’s PatientLife System® will be used as the primary patient engagement tool for the research.  Members of GetWellNetwork’s client community will join the Institute as research demonstration sites.

“We are excited to support such important work and believe that engaging patients in the care process will result in improved outcomes and reduced costs.  The group of thought leaders joining the Institute is remarkable, symbolizing the importance of patient engagement in the healthcare transformation formula,” said Michael O’Neil, Jr., founder and chief executive officer of GetWellNetwork, Inc.

For more information about the work of the Institute for Interactive Patient Care, or to find out more regarding current IIPC research, contact David Wright, IIPC Executive Director, at (240) 482-3156.

About the Institute for Interactive Patient Care

The Institute for Interactive Patient Care (IIPC) is a research institute dedicated to quantifying the efficacy of patient engagement on improving quality, safety and service outcomes; advocating on behalf of patients to establish and promote patient engagement standards and requirements for all healthcare providers; and offering leading tools and skills to effectively engage patients in the care process.  The IIPC is governed by an independent 15-member National Advisory Board comprised of prominent industry leaders.

About GetWellNetwork, Inc.

GetWellNetwork, Inc. is a leading provider of Interactive Patient Care (IPC) solutions. In partnership with more than 65 thought leading hospitals and healthcare systems, the company delivers innovative technology and services to drive optimal patient outcomes. Empowering patients as active participants in the healthcare process, IPC solutions are patient-centric applications delivered at the point-of-care to ensure the completion of service and quality requirements, while driving new revenue opportunities and operational efficiencies for healthcare providers. GetWellNetwork and its clients have been widely acknowledged for their IPC innovations by the healthcare community. In 2007, the GetWellNetwork solution received the exclusive endorsement of the American Hospital Association (AHA). GetWellNetwork, Inc. headquarters are in Bethesda, Maryland. For more information, please call 877.MEET.GWN or visit www.getwellnetwork.com

The next trend in improving health care and outcomes could depend on how well medical providers engage their patients to better understand their conditions and what is required of them.

The new patient engagement initiative announced in May by the GetWellNetwork will include input by MUSC’s  executive medical director, Patrick Cawley, M.D., and other top health care industry leaders across the country who will develop models of best practices and new tools through the  Institute for Interactive Patient Care (IIPC).

Through IIPC, researchers work to establish the efficacy of patient engagement on advancing hospital quality, safety, service and financial outcomes, as well as patient outcomes; and to utilize these findings to establish and promote patient engagement policy, standards and requirements for health care providers.

The goal is to impress upon patients the importance of their roles in improving their health. On a national level, the concept is to enhance the overall quality, service and cost performance outcomes in American health care.

“This is built on the premise that ‘I’m not just going to take care of you, but you are going to take care of yourself,’” said Cawley. “Patient engagement is more than education, as it teaches the patient to participate and be responsible for their care.”

For example, Cawley said for a patient may be deemed a fall risk due to medication, “we would explain to the patient that he is a fall risk because, for example, he may be taking pain medication, which could make a person light-headed. “If the patient recognizes the issues before they get worse, he will experience fewer injuries and get better  quickly. He also would avoid un-necessary repeat visits to the hospital.”

Effective patient engagement works best with a team approach, rather than relying on a single nurse or physician. Nurses, physician’s assistants, dietitians, physical therapists, and other clinical staff could play a significant role in helping a patient become his own best advocate and caregiver.

“We’ve always done a better job of this in pediatric care than we have on the adult side,” Cawley said. “That’s because we have always engaged the parents in explaining about their child’s health and condition, and parents listen when we tell them what they are responsible for in caring for the health of the child. For some reason, we’ve failed in engaging adult patients as effectively.”

Research by member institutions including MUHA will use GetWellNetwork’s PatientLife System as the primary patient engagement tool to measure the impact of patient engagement. This emerging inpatient care delivery model, known as Interactive Patient Care, uses bedside technology and is proactive in engaging patients and their families in their care process.

Findings and developments by IIPC could become important to improving the economic health of the health care industry. “Patient engagement is the next  wave of the future of patient care. The very best hospitals will be able to show that they effectively engage the patient,” Cawley added.

The IIPC board, which met in the spring, will meet again in November to identify models to use for patient engagement surveys. These models would focus on diseases and/or conditions that result in the most return visits to the hospital, such as congestive heart failure or diabetes.

For additional information, visit http://www.getwellnetwork.com.

Article by Mary Helen Yarborough | Public Relations