Encore, Trace provide ‘ultimate easy button’ 

LIVINGSTON, Tenn. – Encore Healthcare’s new strategic partnership with Trace Medical helps providers streamline the process of managing ventilator patients and improve their ability to deliver clinical outcomes, say Zach Gantt. 

As part of the partnership, Encore Healthcare’s clinical management and compliance services are married with Trace Medical’s vent rental offering to form a one-stop solution called Vent360+. 

“We’re working on several partnerships right now and they’re all in the same lane of making things easier for providers,” said Gantt, president and CEO of Encore Healthcare. “We think it’s going to be really good for companies who are small and mid-sized who are looking to get into the business or who are in the business but are looking for ways to be more effective.” 

Vent360+ also consolidates the costs of services and equipment into one fixed price, providing financial and operational benefits. 

Using Vent360+, Gantt likens the process of managing vent patients to managing CPAP patients. 

“The providers get them set up and started, and we take it from there,” he said. “Using a lot of telemedicine, we’re engaged with the patient to make sure they’re compliant and we track the outcomes. Providers are still required to go into the home periodically, but we’re like a subcontractor to the DME that removes much of the patient management cost and time off the clinical staff. The combination of us and Trace – it’s the ultimate easy button.” 

Also, regardless of the equipment they rent from Trace Medical, with the exception of ResMed, providers are able see data in Nexus, Encore Healthcare’s patient management software, rather than having to load up the dashboards of multiple different manufacturers, Gantt says. 

“In the past year, we’ve integrated that workflow, because it’s also about administrative assistance,” he said. “You can spend 20 minutes less per visit managing the device, and refocus on driving clinical outcomes, which benefits the patient and elevates physician relationships.” 

Bigger picture, by streamlining the process of managing vent patients, providers using Vent360+ will increase access to the therapy and play a larger role in reducing health care costs, says Elliot Campbell, executive vice president and chief commercial officer for Trace Medical. 

“The market data we see says about 10% of patients using oxygen who would quality for NIV are actually on home ventilation,” he said. “Vent360+ is a tool that can, by more effectively and more appropriately managing these patients, improve outcomes and keep patients out of the hospital and subsequently reduce overall health care costs.”