News

Telemedicine triage kiosks cut ER visits 11% for health care organization

April 27, 2020

The Alliance for Integrated Care of New York, which oversees the healthcare needs of about 6,200 Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with intellectual and developmental disabilities, was able to reduce expenditures and hospital admissions by adding telemedicine kiosks to residential homes, according to a HealthcareITNews report. The kiosks allowed providers to more effectively manage medical services after hours and on weekends.

AICNY inpatient expenditures decreased by 6%, ER visits dropped by 11% and admissions fell by 7% over a 9-month period in 2018. Data used to risk-stratify patients resulted in a $2.4 million reduction in total costs for the accountable care organization.

Duane Schielke, executive director of AICNY, said a five-year, $13.2 million grant allowed the organization to scale the telemedicine triage kiosk program to 1,000 facilities operated by 54 non-profit organizations across New York that housed about 7,000 patients.