Inflexxion, Inc., GoMo Health, Rhode Island Hospital, and The Miriam Hospital Launch Study of Mobile Text-Message Program for Patients in Medicaid Chronic Pain Program
Study will test innovative methods of improving care coordination and patient engagement
NEWTON, MA (August 18, 2015) – Inflexxion, a leader in health care information technology and research, announces a research study funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to test chronic pain patients’ use of innovative techniques to improve care coordination and patient engagement. The OPEN (Optimizing Patients Engagement in a Novel Chronic Pain Program) study compares 12 weeks of peer navigation to 12 weeks of a tailored, text message patient support tool, and will follow patients for 9 months to measure engagement in complementary and alternative health care therapies. The text message platform was developed through a stepped, patient-centered process that brought together scientists, technology experts, Medicaid patients, managed care organizations, community advocacy groups, and physicians. GoMo Health, a division of Gold Group Enterprises, is a provider of this advanced mAdherence Concierge Care™ patient engagement platform, and will host the program’s more than 3,000 text messages. The study is one of PCORI’s patient-centered comparative effectiveness research studies and provides patients with information that will help them make better-informed decisions about their care.
Traci Green, PhD, MSc, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Deputy Director of the Boston Medical Center Injury Prevention Center (previously Director of Public Health Research and Methodology at Inflexxion) leads the research project, joined by colleagues at Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. The first year of the study focused on better understanding the challenges of engaging in a novel chronic pain care initiative within the Rhode Island Medicaid Communities of Care program and then developing and testing a mobile phone text message intervention. Now, the study team is ready for the next phase, comparing the text message program to a peer navigation approach, to see who benefits most from the boost to patient engagement and the focus on self-management of chronic pain.
“What happens when you offer chiropractic, massage therapy, and acupuncture to patients with chronic pain who have landed in the emergency department many times in the past year? We have no idea! It could be a game-changer in the management of chronic pain,” states Dr. Green.
The Communities of Care program is inclusive of all Medicaid eligible persons who have used the emergency department four or more times in a one year period. Its goal is to improve health outcomes by helping members address their health care needs and in the process reduce avoidable or inappropriate emergency department use. The state is the only one in the country to have received a waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services permitting them to pay for chiropractic, massage therapy, and acupuncture services. The Rhode Island Medicaid program created the chronic pain care initiative within the Community of Care program, and has offered these services to over 1,000 patients.
“More patients should be getting these alternative therapies, and even if you’re eligible to receive them, we know that engagement in health care services needs nurturing,” Dr. Green explains. “The OPEN study is about testing different ways to support patient’s engagement in holistic care. The scientific questions are who benefits from chiropractic, massage therapy, and acupuncture for chronic pain, and can technology or peer navigation help build a more effective patient-centered approach to health service delivery in a Medicaid environment? Those answers may chart a new course for chronic pain health policy.”
The OPEN study commences August 2015 and will enroll 300 Rhode Island Medicaid patients with chronic pain who are part of the Communities of Care program. Preliminary findings are anticipated by December 2016.
About Inflexxion
Founded in 1989, Inflexxion develops scientifically-based, interactive technologies and collects data in innovative ways. Partners and customers rely on Inflexxion for online programs that reduce health-related risks, enhance clinical outcomes, and positively influence quality of care. Inflexxion analyzes and disseminates health-related data for purposes of surveillance, risk management, epidemiological studies, quality improvement, and outcome measurement used by health care organizations and regulatory authorities to help improve care and inform public policy. Through education, Inflexxion changes behaviors by providing online, empirically driven, health-related approaches to health care providers, patients, and the general population in the areas of behavioral health, pain management, and prescription drug safety. For more information please visit www.inflexxion.com.
About Gold Group Enterprises
GoMo Health, a division of Gold Group Enterprises and its Concierge Care™ solution, strengthen health care organizations’ ability to provide better, more cost-effective remote care for those with high-risk, chronic, and complex wellness issues. Using personalized engagement and human responsive technology, GoMo Health offers full service implementations – designed, deployed, and marketed under one roof – to help health care professionals connect with patients and members at every point along the continuum of care to drive better health outcomes.
About Rhode Island Hospital
Founded in 1863, Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, RI, is a private, not-for-profit hospital and is the principal teaching hospital of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. A major trauma center for southeastern New England, the hospital is dedicated to being on the cutting edge of medicine and research. Last year, Rhode Island Hospital received more than $50 million in external research funding. It is also home to Hasbro Children’s Hospital, the state’s only facility dedicated to pediatric care. For more information on Rhode Island Hospital, visit www.rhodeislandhospital.org, follow us on Twitter @RIHospital or like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/rhodeislandhospitalpage.
About The Miriam Hospital
The Miriam Hospital (www.miriamhospital.org) is a 247-bed, not-for-profit teaching hospital affiliated with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. It offers expertise in cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, men’s health, and minimally invasive surgery and is home to the state’s first Joint Commission-certified Stroke Center and robotic surgery program. The hospital, which received more than $27 million in external research funding last year, is nationally known for its HIV/AIDS and behavioral and preventive medicine research, including weight control, physical activity and smoking cessation. The Miriam Hospital has been awarded Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Services four times and is a founding member of the Lifespan health system. Follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/miriamhospital), Twitter @MiriamHospital and Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/MiriamHospital).
About PCORI
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent, non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health care decisions. PCORI is committed to continuously seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work. More information is available at www.pcori.org.
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