Approximately 1.3 million patients are transferred from a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) to a hospital Emergency Department every year, where care is both costly and often inconsistent with patients’ wishes. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, two-thirds of these transfers from SNFs are avoidable, and 45% of hospitalizations from SNFs are unnecessary and can be prevented via treatment at the patient’s bedside. A study conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ) demonstrated that more than $41.3 billion is spent annually treating patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge.

To treat the acute medical needs of vulnerable patients in SNFs, Call9 has created a new model of providing person-centered care through a high-tech, high-touch and multidisciplinary care model that delivers integrated emergency, critical and palliative care to the patient rather than the other way around.

The Call9 model eliminates care siloes, treatment disruption, patient disorientation and frustration, and the exorbitant waste associated with traditional ED processes, including the back-and-forth transfers and hospital admissions for this high-risk population. It closes the gaps in care delivery by focusing on value-based care over volume-based care. Given the tremendous cost and low value of a volume-based approach to reimbursement for SNF patients, this paradigm change is a critical evolution in care for this population.

Call9’s model also showcases the unique skill sets of Emergency Medicine physicians in that EM physicians’ ability to do initial critical assessment and interventions is not limited to location.

This model allows patients outside of the four walls of the ED to benefit from these critical interventions.