Truision was honored to host Dan Hirschfeld, President and CEO at Cosán Group for January’s CIO Forum discussing “The Effect of Covid and Strategic Technology on Eldercare”. A summary of David’s presentation and his bio are below.
Dan Hirschfeld, CEO of Cosán Group, discussed the ways in which his industry-leading healthcare organization is creating pathways to modern aging with technology-driven preventative care services, offering concierge home care for older adults– and how to take advantage of these benefits for your loved ones, at no cost to you.
A vast suite of virtual care services (telemedicine, tablets for patients, caregiver support, etc) is available to Medicare patients, but very few doctors (~15%) and patients are aware that these benefits exist. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all copays for appointments are being waived so this comes at no cost to the patient. As a result, Dan advised that you speak to your loved ones’ primary physicians to see if they offer chronic care management and how your loved one can enroll in the program. Medicare will provide remote patient monitoring devices, which includes a tablet to be used for telehealth (and entertainment!) and equipment (ie: blood pressure monitoring, scale, etc) pertinent to their care. The tablet can also make the older patient feel less isolated during the pandemic while having access to virtual visits with friends and family.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, physician practices have seen a 40-60% decrease in revenue as patients are avoiding in-person visits and elective surgeries. Instead, there’s been a rising trend in the adoption of telemedicine and greater patient engagement.
- 83% of patients expecting to continue using telemedicine after the pandemic resolves
- 93% of patients would use telemedicine to manage prescriptions
- 91% of patients feel that telemedicine will help them stick to appointments, manage prescriptions, and follow wellness regimens as dictated by their doctors
Cosán Group facilitates integrated digital health management through:
- Voice analytics during virtual visits to detect patient anomalies that may have not been otherwise discoverable, monitoring:
- Older patients for signs of dementia, decrease in cognition, etc.
- Younger patients for signs of depression
- Sensors placed under a patient’s bed to monitor weight, stats on bed exits, position of the patient, etc.
- Disease-specific training for both patients and caregivers
- Real-time input, algorithms and AI to analyze the patient’s data and provide evidence-based risk stratification and determine the patient’s likelihood of falls or hospitalizations. Doctors can coordinate services to address these risks (therapy, home health, home modifications, etc)
- Patient access to a “hospital at home” where their care can be virtually monitored and connected for real-time telemedicine.
- The real-time data can be accessed by patients and the caregivers
- The patient’s physician can also determine when certain health data should trigger alerts to the care team or suggest the patient call 911 calls
- Transitional care management to close care gaps- ie: assist patients to transition from hospital to home to decrease hospital readmission rates.
As a result of these interventions, Cosán Group has reduced falls by 72%, decreased emergency department visits by 62% and reduced hospitalizations by 74%. The program has been so successful that there’s a bill in Congress to permanently waive all copays through this program, removing all barriers for patients to access these chronic care management services.
We also had the pleasure of an appearance on January’s CIO Forum by Mindy Greenstein, author of Lighter as We Go which discusses the positive aspects of aging from mid-life to older age. Both Dan and Mindy emphasized the importance of keeping older adults stay connected with friends, family, and community and helping them find a purpose for staying on top of their health and wellness.
About Dan Hirschfeld
Dan Hirschfeld is the President and Chief Executive Officer at Cosán Group, an industry-leading healthcare organizations creating new pathways to modern aging with technology driven preventative care services, offering concierge home care for older adults. Cosán’s Full Service Suite supports Chronic Care Management (CCM), Principle Care Management (PCM), Transitional Care Management (TCM), Behavioral Health Integration (BHI) and Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) programs, in addition to ACO, Medicine Advantage and Payors, which has propelled Cosán to deliver a practice and patient-centric approach to remote care coordination.
Dan has over 35 years in healthcare, with 23 serving as President of all the ancillary divisions at Genesis Healthcare, including Genesis Physician Services (GPS), Genesis Rehab Services (GRS), Home and Community Based Services (Vitality Rehab), Respiratory Health Services (RHS), Signature Home Health and Hospice, CareerStaff Unlimited, Hallmark Institutional Pharmacy, GRS Academy and GRS-HS International. These divisions totaled over $1 billion in revenue, with 1,700 locations serving over 500,000 patients per year throughout the USA and China.
Dan has also founded companies, raising over $350 million in equity for Hallmark Senior Communities and Bill Me Later, which was later sold to eBay for $950 million.
He is a national presenter and panelist for the healthcare industry, including national investment conferences, and has been an industry representative to various state and national government bodies.
“I believe Cosán is perfectly positioned, supporting telehealth in an aging America, which desperately needs the services, prevention and coordination we provide. The Cosán team inspires me each day with their dedication and drive in helping seniors live better lives.”
