Netsmart and VNS Health Partner to Transform End-of-Life Care

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Oct. 21, 2024 — Netsmart, an industry-leading provider of healthcare information technology (HIT) for community-based care providers, and VNS Health, a top provider of post-acute care services and value-based models of care across New York, have announced a collaboration aimed at transforming end-of-life care through the utilization of machine learning and predictive analytics. The partnership, which leverages innovative technology and clinical expertise, prioritizes patient visit scheduling, supports patient and family experience, and targets quality measures for Hospice Visits in the Last Days of Life (HVLDL).

As one of the nation’s largest nonprofit homes and community-based health care organizations, VNS Health is dedicated to providing compassionate care and treatment options for individuals in need of home care, including those facing serious illness. Recognizing the critical importance of timely, personalized care, this new partnership will give Netsmart clients, and the broader hospice provider industry, access to VNS Health’s proprietary predictive analytics for HVLDL, which are now built into the Netsmart myUnity® electronic health record (EHR) platform. The ONC-certified myUnity solution unifies care settings into a single patient record and integrates the capabilities needed to support value-based payment models into a single platform.

“At VNS Health, we work hard to make health care simple to understand, easy to access and meaningful in outcomes for everyone we serve,” said VNS Health President and CEO Dan Savitt. “We are proud to be an industry leader in developing evidence-based predictive analytics models that aim to dramatically improve people’s lives. Our partnership with Netsmart helps us scale this innovation for wider impact and supports purposeful conversations about end-of-life care between clinicians, patients and their loved ones.”

VNS Health’s exclusive HVLDL algorithm is designed to examine each hospice patient’s case history and pinpoint key clinical indicators occurring within a seven-day period. This proprietary machine learning model was trained using more than 1.9M health records from nearly 10,000 historical patients. Its data-driven platform supports more precise, evidence-based care recommendations to help providers deliver the right care at the right time for hospice patients in the last days of life, and has already helped VNS Health outpace state and national averages and improve HVLDL quality measures by 61%.

The HVLDL initiative adds to a growing portfolio of augmented intelligence (AI), machine learning and robotic process automation (RPA) within the Netsmart CareFabric® platform, allowing for greater automation in healthcare delivery. The Netsmart suite of AI and automation technologies aim to enhance clinical decision-making and operational efficiency, enabling providers to deliver even more effective and personalized care.

“While AI and automation may seem like a new concept, this is an area where we have been working closely with our clients for years and have many innovations on the horizon”, said Netsmart CEO Mike Valentine. “Our core strategy focuses on augmented intelligence—providing tools that support staff and clinicians in delivering effective care. By prioritizing this approach, our goal is to support providers on their meaningful AI journey. Together with VNS Health, we will continue to expand augmented intelligence solutions with additional predictive models to drive efficiency in the palliative, home care and hospice community.”

Moving forward, Netsmart and VNS Health remain committed to leveraging technology and data-driven insights to further support end-of-life care and enhance the quality of life for patients and their families.