Texas Providers to Pilot Post-Acute Care Coordination Model

Three Texas provider organizations are launching a year-long pilot program to test an innovative model for post-acute patient care coordination in Dallas County, according to a report in a news publication called D CEO Healthcare.

The Visiting Nurse Association of Texas, UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas are joining forces to provide daily, home-delivered meals for high-risk patients recently discharged from the hospital.

The collaborative pilot will integrate the VNA’s Meals on Wheels daily nutritious meals, critical safety checks, and social and clinical support into a care continuum to help vulnerable patients, especially seniors, stay in their homes, according to the report.

The program’s long-term aim is to reduce hospital readmission rates, improve health outcomes, and help patients age in their homes. The collaboration also is intended to create a replicable operational model that could be adapted across the country.

Funding for the pilot will come from the Kozmetsky Family Foundation, an Austin-based private grant-making foundation, and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.

UT Southwestern will evaluate program outcomes and report back to the funders and the community in 2019.