AMOREM adds software to track patient care transitions

AMOREM has purchased a software system designed to give its clinicians real-time notifications when patients receive care from hospitals, emergency departments, and other healthcare providers.

The Bamboo Health system uses admission, discharge, and transfer data to send notifications, or “pings,” when AMOREM patients transition among health care providers, including hospitals, emergency rooms, and post-acute facilities.

The software was purchased with grant funding from the Bernhardt Furniture Foundation.

AMOREM officials said the notifications will give clinicians greater visibility into patient care, helping them coordinate with outside providers, improve outcomes, and reduce the overall cost of care.

For example, the system can alert AMOREM when one of its palliative medicine or hospice patients arrives at a local hospital emergency department. Patients sometimes go to the emergency room for symptom management, such as a pain crisis, without AMOREM being notified and may then be admitted to the hospital.

Receiving that information in real time could allow AMOREM clinicians to intervene and, when appropriate, prevent a hospitalization. A hospice patient, for example, could instead be transferred to one of AMOREM’s patient care units.

AMOREM recently received a notification that one of its palliative medicine patients had been admitted to Caldwell UNC HealthCare. After receiving the alert, a palliative medicine intake specialist notified one of AMOREM’s nurse practitioners who was rounding at the hospital.

The nurse practitioner visited the patient, determined she was appropriate for hospice care, and had her transferred to one of AMOREM’s patient care units. The transfer also freed a hospital bed for another patient.

“Bamboo Health provides that real-time critical information about our patients so that we can ensure they get the right care at the right time,” said Sandy Nichols, AMOREM’s palliative medicine coordinator.

AMOREM officials said the system also supports the nonprofit’s efforts to work more closely with local hospitals.

“In addition to the right care at the right time, this program helps our patients avoid unnecessary hospitalizations,” Nichols said, “which means that hospital room can be used for another patient.”

“AMOREM is grateful for the grant from the Bernhardt Furniture Foundation which made the initial investment into Bamboo Health possible,” said Kerri L. McFalls, AMOREM’s senior director of marketing and development. “As a nonprofit hospice provider, the support from the communities we serve plays a big part in the excellent end-of-life care we are able to provide.”

AMOREM has served the region as a nonprofit hospice and palliative medicine provider for more than 40 years. The organization previously operated as Burke Hospice and Palliative Care and Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care before becoming AMOREM in 2021.

— AKC