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Home > What Is New > Indiana study: Telecare can save the state millions
Indiana study: Telecare can save the state millions
To many seniors and handicapped adults, the Rest Assured® patented Telecare system represents an opportunity to live an independent life in their own homes. To their families and friends, it means the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their loved ones are safe and can get help when they need it. To community services agencies and home care providers, Telecare solutions like Rest Assured® offer an opportunity to serve their clients more efficiently and effectively. But the greatest push to adopt Telecare – a term describing the new breed of web-enabled remote support systems – may ultimately come from the country’s 50 states.
State agencies, together with the Federal government, share the burden of delivering Medicaid services to their indigent residents. The cost of those services is growing, and so is the number of residents waiting to receive them.
Confronting a challenge
Behind the rising costs and burgeoning demand are a number of economic and demographic factors. People are living longer, and an aging population is likely to require increased support. As the baby boom generation joins a ballooning population of seniors over the coming decades – and the burden of long-term care falls on a shrinking percentage of younger wage earners and care providers – states like Indiana will be hard pressed to keep up with the growing need for services.
New health and home care solutions, enabled by 21st century technologies, promise some relief. Although states must fund their share of Medicaid expenses (paying, on average, 43 percent of total Medicaid costs), they do have some discretion in deciding who is eligible for services and what services are covered.
States allot a significant percentage of funds to covering care in nursing home facilities – a service that they are obliged to offer under Federal Medicaid guidelines. But Medicaid is also used to fund assisted living, home care, and other services. And, increasingly, states are using waivers to cover additional and potentially cost-effective services that are not mandatory under Federal standards.
In Indiana, a study in 2004 commissioned by the state agency for Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities (MRDD) determined that Indiana would save between $13.9 and $14.9 million per year with statewide implementation of overnight Telecare support from Rest Assured® (then known as Nite Time Companion). Because the Telecare system allows a single professional to monitor multiple clients at different locations, it is a low-cost alternative to on-site care.
Based on the projected cost savings, Indiana implemented a pilot Telecare program. The success of that program, in turn, has led the state to pass a waiver including Telecare among Indiana’s approved Medicaid services.
A new option for Indiana residents
Indian’s pilot program demonstrated that Telecare technology can help people with disabilities lead safer and more independent lives. Today, both handicapped and senior residents of Indiana can request Telecare remote support services as an alternative to on-site, live-in, assisted living, or nursing home care. Not surprisingly, many individuals prefer to receive care in their homes whenever possible. Now, with the approval of their case managers, they can choose an alternative that allows them to live independently while maintaining their privacy, health, and safety.
Following a reorganization of the state’s case management system, Indiana is poised to embark on broader implementation of Telecare support.
That’s good news for a state facing rising Medicaid payouts and a chronic shortage of care employees, great news for individuals and loved ones who will benefit directly from Telecare.