How NJ's Largest Health Network is Fixing an $8B National Crisis in Parkinson's Care
Hackensack Meridian Health
Edison, N.J.
Hospital care for people with Parkinson’s disease costs nearly $8 billion annually and places about one in six hospitalized patients at significant risk for an avoidable complication due to healthcare systems that are not designed to meet their unique, time-sensitive needs. These complications can result in longer hospital stays, higher readmission rates, discharge to post-acute care facilities rather than home, and increased mortality.
In response, Hackensack Meridian Health has developed an innovative Parkinson’s Disease Care Pathway integrated directly into its electronic health record system. The program standardizes inpatient care, including ensuring Parkinson’s medications are administered within 30 minutes of scheduled times, flagging contraindicated medications, promoting patient mobility at least three times daily, and requiring patients to sit upright for meals to reduce the risk of aspiration pneumonia.
“We are preventing complications, shortening hospital stays, and saving money,” said Hooman Azmi, M.D., director of the Division of Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery at the Neuroscience Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center. “This is about providing the best possible care for the patient in a way that's smarter and more efficient for everyone."