Case Study: Park Nicollet Health Services achieves 32% reduction in readmissions with Lightning Bolt

Park Nicollet Drops Readmission Rate By 32% With A Text-First Approach To Patient Outreach

Park Nicollet Health Services, operating Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, faced persistent readmission challenges: nurses spent excessive time calling discharged patients yet struggled to meet readmission goals. To reach more patients without adding to nursing workload, Park Nicollet partnered with vendor Lightning Bolt to deploy an automated, text-first patient follow-up program.

Lightning Bolt implemented customized, discharge-triggered text assessments integrated with Park Nicollet’s ADT system and an online dashboard that segments patients by risk and flags cases needing follow-up. The program achieved a 70% patient response rate, reduced nurse phone calls by 25%, and correlated with a 32% drop in readmission rates (with 17% of patients identified for immediate outreach), prompting expansion across the HealthPartners system.

Park Nicollet Health Services

Jasmine Larson

Director, Data & Analytics