Profile: Resourceful Physicians at BridgeCare
Harshini “Hershey” Jayasuriya, MD, FAAFP, started Michigan’s first telehealth-based discharge clinic, BridgeCare Specialists of Michigan, in an effort to bridge the gaps in patient care.
Working in both inpatient and outpatient medicine, Dr. Jayasuriya began to see a pattern in the systemic gaps in healthcare that caused poor outcomes for patients discharging from acute care. Patients often struggle to find timely follow-up appointments, manage their prescriptions, and otherwise navigate a complicated healthcare system. This often leads them back to the emergency department, putting extra strain on critical resources already stretched thin. Nationally, the 30-day readmission rate of Medicare patients is 15-30%, and preventable readmissions cost more than $17 billion annually.
Using her unique blend of experience, Dr. Jayasuriya created a new solution to help patients recover at home: a fully virtual discharge clinic to bridge patients until they’re able to establish with a primary care office in person. Dr. Jayasuriya’s telehealth clinic model allows her to see patients quickly–often within 2 days of discharge from inpatient care–and sign orders to get home health care providers when and where their services are most needed. From there, Dr. Jayasuriya can manage IV antibiotics, oversee wound care, and otherwise act as a ‘temporary’ primary care physician until her patients are able to get established with a provider long-term.
After their first year in business, BridgeCare Specialists has seen continued success in simultaneously improving patient recovery and reducing the cost burden to the healthcare system. The clinic maintains a 2% (compared to national 15-30%) readmission rate for Medicare patients.
Dr. Jayasuriya’s ability to uniquely problem-solve this unmet healthcare need and craft a successful business around it in such a short time is nothing short of amazing and a perfect example of the creativity and scrappiness exhibited by so many physicians day in and day out.
Harshini Jayasuriya, MD, FAAFP