Increased Medicare and Medicaid underfunding
According to the 2007 American Hospital Association (AHA) Underpayment by Medicare and Medicaid Fact Sheet, Medicare and Medicaid account for 55% of all care provided by hospitals and both Medicare and Medicaid payments have been falling relative to costs. For example:

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Increased operational costs
According to the AHA, hospitals, clinics and other medical practices nationwide are experiencing dramatic increases in operational expenses, such as pharmaceuticals, supplies, malpractice insurance, etc.

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Staffing shortages
Findings from the 2007 AHA survey of Hospital Leaders showed that medical professionals are facing workforce shortages, such as an 11.4% shortage in therapists and an 8.1%, or 118,000, shortage in both nurses and pharmacists. These shortages are resulting in such service impacts as 49% decreased staff satisfaction, 36% ED overcrowding, 17% reduced number of staffed beds and 17% delayed discharge/increased length of stay.

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Decreased customer satisfaction
Another impact of the staffing shortages is a sharp decrease in patient satisfaction. The 2007 AHA survey showed that due to staffing shortages, medical practices, hospitals and clinics are seeing a 38% decrease in patient satisfaction. Additionally, a recent McKinsey study reported that, faced with healthcare decisions, consumers are concerned, confused, and unprepared, which also negatively impacts satisfaction.

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Healthcare Providers

Healthcare Providers  <  Customer Focus  <  Home

Reduce Avoidable Hospital Re-admissions Now!

Leading Healthcare Organizations are Successfully Reducing Hospital Readmissions. Are you?

Healthcare payment reform, including payment reductions for readmitted patients, is happening and will profoundly affect hospitals and other healthcare providers. Healthcare providers can no longer afford to under-invest in the ongoing care management of their high-cost patients or they may face serious financial consequences.

Pharos Innovations was founded in 1995 with the belief that consistently engaging patients in their daily self-care is the optimal path to reducing avoidable hospital admissions. The Tel-Assurance® IVR and Web-based behavior change platform enables providers to cost-effectively and efficiently manage their chronic care patients.


Tel-Assurance is proven to:

  • Reduce avoidable hospital admissions;
  • Improve margins and increase bed availability through a decrease in average length-of-stays; and
  • Improve physician and patient satisfaction and loyalty to your brand.

How We Do It


Participants use any available telephone (land line, cell phone or payphone) or internet connection and basic health measurement tools, such as their own standard bathroom scale or glucometer, to gather and report basic symptom information for care manager follow-up, as needed.



  • IVR and web-based behavior change platform
  • Rapid ramp-up and scalability - can be up and running in 30 to 45 days
  • No expensive, hard-to-use equipment
  • Turnkey enrollment and retention to maximize program success


What We Can Do For You

Tel-Assurance has been proven to show consistent and reproducible results across provider and payer organizations and diverse geographies and populations served. Whether it is a provider group, hospital or an integrated healthcare system, Tel-Assurance can reduce avoidable hospitalizations, improve margins and increase patient and physician satisfaction. Below is just one example of how Tel-Assurance has helped clients reduce expensive and avoidable hospital admissions:

CTA: For a more detailed analysis of Tel-Assurance's financial and quality improvement capabilities, contact Jay Warden at (847) 691-2605 or jwarden@pharosinnovations.com.


Learn More
Collaborative Forum

Visit Pharos' new blog on the issues that will get us closer to transforming our healthcare delivery system.

Virtual Pharos

Commonwealth Fund Briefing: "Pathways to Payment Innovation in a Post-Health Reform Era" View video of the May 10 briefing on the impact of healthcare reform on our healthcare delivery and payment system.

Chicago Business Today Features Pharos Innovations on Healthcare Reform View video news clip of Lisa Leiter's interview with Pharos' CEO on shaping healthcare delivery system reform.

Pharos Findings

WellPoint Achieves 79% reduction and $3,785 Per Enrolled Member Per Month Savings Using Tel-Assurance for its Medicare Advantage Heart Failure Population - Read the results of this prospective, matched cohort evaluation.

South Jersey Healthcare Seeks to Reduce Readmissions, Improve Quality - Preliminary results show an 83% reduction in avoidable admissions and .5 day decrease in average length of stay per admission.

Inova Mount Vernon Hospital Reduces Hospital Admissions - Admissions reduced in HF program participants by 75%; includes preliminary results using Tel-Assurance®

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