The Tyrolean Federal Institute for Integrated Care (LIV Tyrol)

Abstract

A constantly increasing life expectancy of society leads to an increase in severe chronic diseases, which are accompanied by negative effects on the quality of life for patients and an increasing number of hospital admissions as well as long hospital stays. This poses major challenges for the healthcare system and requires innovative and integrated approaches in order to provide high quality healthcare.
 Therefore, the Tyrolean Federal Institute for Integrated Care (LIV Tyrol) was founded from a joint initiative of the federal state government of the Province of Tyrol and the social insurance institutions to target the above mentioned challenges and reduce burdens for the health care system by developing and implementing integrated care approaches and programs for different chronic diseases. Integrated care is understood to be patient-oriented, continuous, cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary and/or multiprofessional care based on standardized care concepts.
 LIV Tyrol aims for optimal care for patients – especially patients suffering from chronic diseases – at their homes in order to increase their quality of life on the one hand and, on the other hand, to relieve the healthcare system through innovative approaches. As a result, different disease management programs are developed, implemented, coordinated, operated and evaluated.
 They include disease management programs for patients with heart failure (HerzMobil Tirol), dementia (Demenz Tirol), patients who suffered a stroke (Schlaganfallpfad Tirol) or in need of palliative care (Hospiz- und Palliativversorgung). LIV Tyrol also coordinates the care management for the Province of Tyrol, Austria and the post-Covid care. Some of these programs are supported by telemedical solutions including telemonitoring systems to provide a secure framework for patient care outside the hospital and to allow for immediate measures when needed. Furthermore, different registries, such as the Austrian birth registry, the Tyrolean cancer registry, the Tyrolean arthroplasty registry, or the Tyrolean diabetes registry are located and operated at the Institute of Clinical Epidemiology, which is part of LIV Tyrol. LIV Tyrol also supports data management and analytics for (clinical) problems but also provides an important contribution to quality assurance within the Tyrolean healthcare system.
 In order to implement such disease management programs, a close collaboration of different stakeholders is needed. Stakeholders of LIV Tyrol include but are not limited to health-policy makers, social insurance institutions, healthcare providers (hospitals, resident practitioners, other health-related professions), research institutions, and patients. 
 An institution like LIV Tyrol is unique in the Austrian health care system and contributes to optimal care security for patients in Tyrol and poses hub for new, innovative and flexible integrated care models.
 To make the health care system fit for the future, the federal and state governments have agreed to expand integrated care. The federal government of Tyrol has therefore commissioned the Tyrolean Federal Institute for Integrated Care to implement these targets and to design, organize and coordinate integrated care initiatives throughout the province of Tyrol.