The Regenstrief Institute, an organization dedicated to technological innovation in healthcare, is partnering with Care Revolution, a medical startup focused on improving care at nursing facilities, controlling costs and reducing trips to the hospital. The new venture expands on an ongoing project funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Center for Innovation.

 “Investing in Care Revolution was an easy choice for us,” said Peter Embí, M.D., MS, Regenstrief president and chief executive officer. “The creation of this company epitomizes the type of impact that can result from the successful translation of research-to-practice. As it grows and spreads across the U.S., we expect Care Revolution to create great value by improving the quality of care for people in nursing homes while saving the healthcare system hundreds of millions of dollars in the process.”

Care Revolution will help long-term nursing facilities implement a new model of care into their daily workflow. The program embeds a specially trained nurse at each facility. That nurse provides support to long-stay residents and their families and education and training to other staff members while also conducting reviews of care management. The ultimate goal of the model is to allow nursing home residents to be treated in the familiar setting of the facility more often, rather than be transferred to the hospital.

Care Revolution’s model of care proved effective in a trial at 19 Indiana nursing homes, reducing avoidable hospitalizations by 33 percent. It also lowered Medicare expenditures by $1,589 per nursing home resident per year, produced a total Medicare spending reduction of nearly $13.5 million and a net savings of more than $3.4 million over a two-year span.

“We’re excited to partner with Regenstrief in this effort to improve the quality of care for a very vulnerable population,” said Kathleen Unroe, M.D., MHA, Care Revolution CEO, Regenstrief research scientist and associate professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. “Regenstrief’s investment in Care Revolution will empower our company to expand our reach and improve the care provided to older adults in areas far beyond central Indiana.”

The new venture will provide hands-on training, workflow improvement tools, data management resources and other options to facilities to help them improve quality of care and communication with families.