Bridges Health Services is merging with Las Vegas-based home health and hospice companies Gentlecare Home Health and Renaissance Hospice and Los Angeles-based home health and hospice companies Supreme Healthcare Inc. and Supreme Hospice Inc. 

Bridges Health Services was founded by Carolyn Romero, a home health and hospice nurse. The more than 10-year-old company has a national footprint, delivering hospice and home health care primarily seniors covered by Medicare.

Along with the merger, the company has also implemented a new artificial intelligence platform designed to help them identify patients who are in most need of their services as early as possible in their disease trajectory.

“The traditional approach of our health care delivery system focuses on treatment rather than prevention,” Bridges founder Romero said. “At Bridges Health Services, we pride ourselves on integrating promotive, preventative, curative and palliative health solutions with the use of revolutionary AI technology and our highly skilled healthcare professionals.”

Artificial intelligence technology is in its infancy, but hospice organizations are already applying the technology to provide patient support, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.

Most existing solutions are cloud-based with cost structures based on usage. Savings from increased efficiency, automation, and resource management can help mitigate expenses. A 2018 report from ABI Research estimated that AI applications would yield $21 billion in savings across all health care settings by 2021, Home Health Care News reported.

Bridges has also established a partnership with a crisis management organization that will provide patients, referral partners and clinicians with additional support for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This merger has brought together companies with the same values of honesty, integrity and innovation. We focus on honoring patients’ wishes while offering patients choices,” says founder and nurse Carolyn Romero.

Hospice utilization in Nevada hovered around 48.5% in 2018, according to the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization. As of July 2019, 15.7% of the state’s 3.1 million residents were older than 65, and the U.S. Census Bureau anticipates that the number of seniors in the state will rise by 89% as of 2030.

In California, hospice utilization among Medicare decedents in California reached 46.1% during 2018, compared to a national average slightly higher than 50%, according toNHPCO. Utah has the highest utilization in the country at 60.5%