washington hospital: uses ehr to reap clinical and financial gains for chronic disease management
DESCRIPTION
Learn how Washington Hospital Uses electronic health record software from McKesson to reap clinical and financial gains. http://www.mckesson.com/en_us/McKesson.com/For%2BHealthcare%2BProviders/Physician%2BPractices/For%2BIndependent%2BPractices/Practice%2BPartner%2BAppointment%2BScheduler.htmlTRANSCRIPT
Washington HospitalUses EHR to Reap Clinical and Financial Gains for Chronic Disease Management
Case Study
At a Glance
Organization
Washington HospitalWashington, Pa.
– 24 residents
– 15 faculty
– 58,000 visits per year
Solution Spotlight
– Practice Partner® PatientRecords
– Practice Partner® Medical Billing
– Practice Partner® AppointmentScheduler
Critical Issues
– Limited continuity of care and missed opportunities formanaging chronic diseases
– Low level of financial return on quality bonuses
Results
– Instituted process changes usingthe EHR that empoweredadministrative and nursing staffto take an active role in diabetic disease management
– Significantly improved performance against qualitystandards for diabetic patientsas measured by a nationalresearch organization
– Maximized pay-for-performanceincentives offered by primarypayor, resulting in an additional$50,000 per year in qualitybonuses
AnswersWashington Hospital selectedMcKesson’s Practice Partner®
Patient Records, Practice Partner®
Medical Billing and Practice Partner®
Appointment Scheduler solutions.(Practice Partner version 9.2 fromMcKesson is a CCHIT CertifiedSM
product for CCHIT Ambulatory EHR2006 and 2007.) This integrated system of medical billing softwareand practice management softwaregives physicians access to patientdata anywhere, anytime.
“Practice Partner has become a regular part of our physicians’ daily care of patients,” explains Jeff Minteer, M.D., associate residency director, WashingtonHospital. “McKesson’s system gives our training physicians theability to access information in multiple settings — from one of our offices, the hospital or home.”
Dr. Minteer extended the practice’suse of the EHR when Highmark, one of Washington Hospital’s largest payors, instituted a pay-for-performance program based on quality improvement measures.The incentives ranged from $3 to $9per visit, depending on the practice’s performance against themeasures. Dr. Minteer chose to focuson a disease management initiativefor diabetics, a significant portion of the practice’s patient population.
Using the Practice Partner EHR in conjunction with historical
Managing quality improvementsin chronic disease treatment is a challenge for any physician practice, but even more so in afamily practice residency wheremuch of the clinical staff includesresidents in constant transition. To improve the continuity of careprovided by its three-office familymedicine residency, WashingtonHospital implemented a fully integrated electronic health record(EHR) from McKesson, overhauledprocesses within the practice, andenlisted support from a researchnetwork to benchmark qualitymeasures. The transformation has helped the residency enhancepatient care and benefit from aregional pay-for-performance program, increasing annual revenue by $50,000.
ChallengesBecause it hosts a training program for residents, WashingtonHospital’s clinical staff is alwayschanging. In fact, patients are notseen by their regular doctor 40%of the time, resulting in missedopportunities for managing chronic diseases. Continuity of care was further inhibited by thepractice’s use of paper records.With three residency sites separated by 20 miles, it was difficult for residents to evaluatepatients in the hospital withoutthe information in their records.And when patients moved fromoffice to office, record transferwas a problem.
Copyright © 2007 McKesson Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Practice Partner is aregistered trademark of Physicians Microsystems Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of McKesson InformationSolutions LLC. CCHIT Certified is a service mark of the Certification Commission for Healthcare InformationTechnology. All other product or company names mentioned may be trademarks, service marks or registeredtrademarks of their respective companies. PRT288-12/07
“McKesson has given us
a step toward a longitudinal
patient record that is helping
us resolve the segmentation
of healthcare.”
Jeff Minteer, M.D.
Associate Residency Director
Washington Hospital
McKesson Provider Technologies
5995 Windward ParkwayAlpharetta, GA 30005
http://www.mckesson.com1.800.981.8601
Case Study
population and patient data compiled by Practice PartnerResearch Network (PPRNet),Washington Hospital identified the diabetic patients at highest riskfor complications and measured the effectiveness of its new process changes.
Two major process changes wereinstituted. The first identified diabetic patients when they came in for an office visit. Staff created a workflow chart in the PracticePartner solution with a diabetic-specific flowsheet that was completed prior to the patient’svisit. When the patient arrived forthe visit, the resident would knowthe patient was diabetic and couldorder any necessary lab work.
The second process change established outbound communi-cation for preventive care. Nurseswere trained as diabetes educatorsand communicated with the diabetic patients through e-mailmessages and mailings to helpensure they scheduled and completed their visits.
“Already having an EHR in placewas crucial for instituting a diseasemanagement program,” Dr. Minteerexplains. “Our EHR provides accurate clinical information extracted directly from the chart —and that information is available to multiple members of the healthcare team.”
ResultsWashington Hospital achieved substantial improvements in clinicaloutcomes among its diabetic patientpopulation. Prior to the diseasemanagement initiative, Washingtonscored three points greater than the median and zero at benchmark(defined as 90th percentile of performance) on 13 diabetes-specificmeasures when compared againstits peer group within a nationalresearch organization (PPRNet).After the process changes, the hospital scored nine points greaterthan the median and four pointsgreater than the benchmark againstthe same peer group.
Washington Hospital’s financial performance also skyrocketed. Priorto the new processes, the residencyreceived Highmark’s lowest level of quality bonus. After the newprocesses, the bonus increased to the highest level, resulting inadditional annual revenue of$50,000. The financial gain enabledthe practice to hire another nurse to run the disease management program.
“McKesson has given us a steptoward a longitudinal patientrecord that’s helping us resolve thesegmentation of healthcare,” saysDr. Minteer. “We have better controland access to data and can evaluatepractice patterns, improve pay-for-performance activities and lessenerrors with electronic reminders.”