Case Study: Indiana University Health reduces readmissions with Backline by DrFirst

Hospital at Home program at academic health system reduces readmissions by 50%

Indiana University Health, a leading academic health system, launched a Hospital at Home program to deliver acute-level care in patients’ homes, starting with COVID pneumonia cases and then expanding to other conditions. The challenge was enabling seamless clinical collaboration in real time across emergency, hospitalist, nursing, and in-home care teams. To support this, IU Health used Backline by DrFirst, the HIPAA-secure communication platform referenced in the case study as Diagnotes.

Backline by DrFirst provided secure messaging, voice/video communication, and patient-specific virtual rooms so care teams could coordinate quickly and share information in real time. The solution helped IU Health reduce readmissions by 50%, cut financial overhead by 48%, and achieve 84% overall patient satisfaction. Clinicians also reported faster responses and better shared visibility into patient care, underscoring the impact of Backline by DrFirst on Hospital at Home coordination.

Indiana University Health