A New Data-Driven Program Helps Identify High-Risk Individuals

ArchCare, the Archdiocese of New York’s healthcare system that cares for more than 10,000 seniors, the poor, and persons with special needs, has partnered with Intus Care to adopt a data-driven approach to senior care. ArchCare Senior Life, Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), cares for people age 55 and older who qualify for nursing-home-level care. Intus Care’s Integrated Care Services and software analytics platform add valuable data analytics to the existing caregiving model.

Establishing the Partnership

Dr. Walid Michelen, senior vice president, clinical planning & innovation and chief medical officer at ArchCare.

The ArchCare team first became aware of Intus Care through a data analytics presentation by another PACE program at the 2022 NPA Annual Conference. “They showcased the Intus Care tool and how it assisted workflows,” says Dr. Walid Michelen, senior vice president, clinical planning & innovation and chief medical officer at ArchCare. “Our relationship grew to a partnership from there.”

Dr. Michelen notes that the Intus Care technology aims to address several problems in the program. It will help to mitigate manual reporting, empower clinical decision-making, and automate PACE workflows. The software will help to augment the compliance department to endure audit readiness, and will facilitate optimal utilization, quality, and operational outcomes.

“We started the rollout of Intus Care in February 2023,” he says. “All four PACE centers (Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, and Westchester) received in-person rollouts with Intus Care’s implementation team.”

“The implementation process was seamless with integration into our existing EMR and supporting data sources,” he explains. Staff received both virtual and in-person training provided by PACE experts, and training was tailored to ArchCare’s current workflows.

How the Intus Care Tool Works

The Intus Care platform collects several different types of information that will support ArchCare in clinical and operational decision-making:

• Hospitalization risk scoring data is based on the assessment of major subcategories that contribute to the overall score. Those categories include diseases, neurological and behavioral components, coordination complexity, social determinants, recurrent episodes, and more.
• Segmented population health management tools allow ArchCare to segment population based on like factors to promote targeted interventions where they are needed most. It also helps ArchCare track the effectiveness of those interventions.
• Trend analysis and improvement recommendations provide insight to promote care plan updates when and where they are needed in specific risk categories, such as falls.

“With this new technology, we can pinpoint who is at risk for a decline, fall, or other adverse event, and focus care where it’s needed immediately,” says Dr. Michelen. The tool helps identify participants at a high risk for hospitalization and chronic disease onset, allowing for optimal care planning.

Since there is no limit on logins for the Intus Care tool, anyone within the ArchCare organization can access the Intus Care platform. “The platform provides recommended workflows, information, and dynamically risk-scored patients for review. This enables our staff to proactively identify and address the needs of at-risk participants,” Dr. Michelen explains.

Given that ArchCare has only been using the Intus Care platform for a few months, ArchCare representatives declined to comment on the experience using the tool or feedback received on the tool so far. However, the implementation of the Intus Care tool is an example of the growing ways that senior care operations can leverage the power of technology to enhance the quality of care they deliver.

Paige Cerulli

Paige Cerulli is a contributing writer to i Advance Senior Care.