WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. and ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Aug. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Integra Connect, the leading provider of technologies and services for value-based specialty care, today announced a partnership with Innovative Oncology Business Solutions (IOBS) to incorporate Community Oncology Medical Home (COME HOME) program triage pathways into its Oncology Care Model (OCM) and population health solutions. Oncology practice staff using Integra Connect solutions will now be able to leverage IOBS's comprehensive set of protocols to provide aggressive symptom management as part of their patient triage and care coordination workflows, then track and report on results via advanced analytic capabilities.

"Our partnership with Integra Connect is an exciting opportunity to extend COME HOME pathways to leading community-based oncology practices nationwide in support of their value-based care success," said Barbara L. McAneny, MD, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of IOBS. "IOBS's aim has always been to enhance patient outcomes by improving the timeliness and coordination of care, while also reducing cost through avoidance of unnecessary emergency department (ED) and inpatient hospital visits. That mission is becoming more important than ever, as oncology practices participating in the OCM or future APMs need interventions such as our triage pathways to directly reduce the ED and inpatient costs for which they are held accountable."

Triage activities enabled through Integra Connect's solutions will focus on first responders (phone operators) and nurses, who will be guided through step-by-step clinical decision making as they discuss and assess a wide variety of patient issues such as pain, nausea, and vomiting. The protocols have already produced noteworthy results among the seven practices participating in the COME HOME program, who have collectively reduced their overall cost of care by 7.2%, driven by decreases in inpatient hospital admissions (12.5%), 30-day hospital readmissions (11.7%), and ER visits (6.6%). In addition, the COME HOME program was recently expanded through a collaboration with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) that will see its tools replicated and expanded across the United States.
"IOBS's best-in-class symptom management protocols will provide a powerful asset to our oncology practice clients as they care for patients more holistically, across all settings," said Charles Saunders, MD, CEO of Integra Connect. "The relationship serves as further proof of our mission to enable practices not just to track and report for value-based care – but to better control the drivers of quality and cost to meaningfully improve their performance."

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