Intermountain partners with Minnesota firm to launch elder care service

Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare has entered into a partnership with Minneapolis-based Lifesprk to launch a new life-care model for seniors. Known as Homespire, the service is designed to keep seniors healthy and living fuller, more independent lives while significantly reducing emergency room and hospital visits, Intermountain said in a release last week.

Homespire will include private-pay home-care options like non-medical services that are essential to daily living outside of a care facility. Homespire is now available in the Salt Lake Valley and will expand throughout Utah over the next year, the company said.

{mprestriction ids="1,3"}“As the total number of seniors in our area increases significantly and the number of family members that are caregivers continues to shrink, we’re anticipating a gap in the care we’re able to provide our aging population,” said Kim Henrichsen, senior vice president of clinical operations and chief nursing executive for Intermountain Healthcare. “Lifesprk, which is a 14-year old company that’s served more than 14,000 clients in Minnesota, has a proven model that delivers on our mutual vision of enabling seniors to remain in their homes longer by living healthy, independent lives.” 

In its Minnesota operation, Lifesprk has reduced emergency room visits by 47.8 percent and hospital visits by 56.8 percent, according to the release. This translates into significant cost savings for each senior over a lifetime.

“What we have statistically proven is that providing care that encompasses the whole person, not just their medical condition, is the key to helping them achieve their healthiest self,” said Joel Theisen, founder and CEO of Lifesprk and president and CEO for Homespire. “It’s shifting the healthcare paradigm from sick care to well care. This model is about rethinking the overall delivery of care for our aging population and surrounding them with a community of people who advocate and anticipate their needs so we can prevent or minimize health crises.”

Homespire will continue the Lifesprk model, which assigns each client a Homespire life care manager who is a registered nurse and serves as a trusted advocate in the home for the individual. The life care manager, who offers 24/7 on-call coverage, works closely with the client, the family, and with Intermountain care management teams to develop and execute a Life Plan that includes health and wellness, social support, purpose and passion, thinking and memory, home and safety, finances and identity.

“Data shows that 90 percent of the factors that cause a re-hospitalization are outside of the scope of the medical model,” Theisen said. “There’s really no source in the community anymore that helps address those outside factors on an ongoing basis. That’s why our life care manager role is so important and has been critical to driving the successful outcomes for our clients. Our life care managers are highly trained in developing a life plan that tackles life challenges and adds purpose and passion so each person can live what we call a sparked life.”

While Utah remains one of the youngest states in the nation, according to state data in the next 25 years, the 65-plus population will double both in number and as a percentage of the state's population. In addition, the 85-plus group in Utah grew 60 percent from 1990 to 2000 and is expected to grow 800 percent from 2006 to 2050.

“We truly believe a program like Homespire meets the Utah 2030 plan and Intermountain’s vision to keep the aging population engaged, involved and contributing to the community,” said Henrichsen.{/mprestriction}