The document describes the development of a transitional care program called C-TraIn for uninsured and Medicaid patients at Oregon Health & Science University. Key steps included engaging institutional leaders, performing a needs assessment of 116 inpatients, and convening stakeholder work groups. The needs assessment found that many patients lacked access to primary care and faced barriers to medication access. This informed the design of C-TraIn, which includes elements such as a transitional care nurse, pharmacy consultations, 30 days of medications for uninsured patients, and linkages to community medical homes. An economic analysis estimated potential cost savings from reducing readmissions, which helped gain institutional support and funding to implement and study the program.
Weitzman 2013 Relative patient benefits of a hospital-PCMH collaboration with...CHC Connecticut
Anuj K Dalal presents information on a PCORI research grant: Relative patient benefits of a hospital-PCMH collaboration within an ACO to improve care transitions.
Creating a standard of care for patient and family engagementChristine Winters
Nationally-recognized governance expert Beth Daley Ullem addresses the state of patient engagement in heathcare and provides a vision for establishing a minimum standard of care for patient engagement programs.
Closing the Loop: Strategies to Extend Care in the EDEngagingPatients
This HIMSS15 presentation discusses the challenges faced in hospital emergency departments and offers insights for implementing a process to follow up with discharged ED patients to enhance outcomes and satisfaction,while optimizing utilization and reducing risk.
Weitzman 2013 Relative patient benefits of a hospital-PCMH collaboration with...CHC Connecticut
Anuj K Dalal presents information on a PCORI research grant: Relative patient benefits of a hospital-PCMH collaboration within an ACO to improve care transitions.
Creating a standard of care for patient and family engagementChristine Winters
Nationally-recognized governance expert Beth Daley Ullem addresses the state of patient engagement in heathcare and provides a vision for establishing a minimum standard of care for patient engagement programs.
Closing the Loop: Strategies to Extend Care in the EDEngagingPatients
This HIMSS15 presentation discusses the challenges faced in hospital emergency departments and offers insights for implementing a process to follow up with discharged ED patients to enhance outcomes and satisfaction,while optimizing utilization and reducing risk.
This infographic from The Beryl Institute presents key findings from its study, the "State of Patient Experience 2015: A Global Perspective on the Patient Experience Movement," which engaged over 1,500 respondents in 50 countries, sharing challenges and opportunities in addressing the patient experience across all healthcare settings.
Improving ruli district hospital's patient referral system, final, 4.12.11Wendy_Leonard
Presentation by team of MBA students from Ross School of Business at University of Michigan. Describes recommendations for improving the referral process for rural health centers to the district hospital in rural Rwanda.
An aging population combined with the decline in the number of primary care providers places unique demands on the provision of health care. Adult-gerontology nurse practitioners provide primary care to adults and the elderly, serve in administrative roles in health care organizations, and evaluate and implement health care policy and programs.
Topics:
What’s the difference between the adult-gerontology nurse practitioner and the family nurse practitioner role?
What should I consider when choosing my nurse practitioner career path?
Focus on the adult-gerontology nurse practitioner specialization
Master’s level vs. doctoral level nursing degrees: Which is right for me?
What is a "super specialization?"
Dr. Edward Wagner, Director (Emeritus) MacColl Center, Senior Investigator, Group Health Research Institute addresses the 2014 Weitzman Symposium on The Future of Primary Care
Effective integration of specialty practices into medical neighborhoods is likely to require several important environmental precursors. First, a sound infrastructure
design can connect PCMHs to the spectrum of surrounding
specialty practices. An aligned information architecture
will be vital to adequate patient access, care coordination, and communication. Second, a patient centered
neighborhood will rely on an organizational culture that
supports shared learning and transparency of performance and cost data among participating practices. Third, payment incentives will have to be aligned around shared accountability for outcome and cost. Responsibility
for outcomes and total cost of care will have to rest not only with primary care clinicians, but also with specialists who perform(often expensive) procedures and specialty services.The launch of the NCQA’s PCSP recognition program is a sign of a new phase of delivery system reform
This infographic from The Beryl Institute presents key findings from its study, the "State of Patient Experience 2015: A Global Perspective on the Patient Experience Movement," which engaged over 1,500 respondents in 50 countries, sharing challenges and opportunities in addressing the patient experience across all healthcare settings.
Improving ruli district hospital's patient referral system, final, 4.12.11Wendy_Leonard
Presentation by team of MBA students from Ross School of Business at University of Michigan. Describes recommendations for improving the referral process for rural health centers to the district hospital in rural Rwanda.
An aging population combined with the decline in the number of primary care providers places unique demands on the provision of health care. Adult-gerontology nurse practitioners provide primary care to adults and the elderly, serve in administrative roles in health care organizations, and evaluate and implement health care policy and programs.
Topics:
What’s the difference between the adult-gerontology nurse practitioner and the family nurse practitioner role?
What should I consider when choosing my nurse practitioner career path?
Focus on the adult-gerontology nurse practitioner specialization
Master’s level vs. doctoral level nursing degrees: Which is right for me?
What is a "super specialization?"
Dr. Edward Wagner, Director (Emeritus) MacColl Center, Senior Investigator, Group Health Research Institute addresses the 2014 Weitzman Symposium on The Future of Primary Care
Effective integration of specialty practices into medical neighborhoods is likely to require several important environmental precursors. First, a sound infrastructure
design can connect PCMHs to the spectrum of surrounding
specialty practices. An aligned information architecture
will be vital to adequate patient access, care coordination, and communication. Second, a patient centered
neighborhood will rely on an organizational culture that
supports shared learning and transparency of performance and cost data among participating practices. Third, payment incentives will have to be aligned around shared accountability for outcome and cost. Responsibility
for outcomes and total cost of care will have to rest not only with primary care clinicians, but also with specialists who perform(often expensive) procedures and specialty services.The launch of the NCQA’s PCSP recognition program is a sign of a new phase of delivery system reform
R. VILLANO - ANIMALS (cd rom vol. 2 part 3 IT-2016)Raimondo Villano
58. R. Villano “Animals. Volume 2”, selezione di fotografie originali e inedite realizzate dal 2004 al 2016, con colonna sonora. (36,8 Mb; 1 files, 50 diapositive), Chiron dpt Ph@rma, Roma, ottobre 2016;
Cómo entender y acercarte a tu buyer persona en el momento correcto y a través del contenido adecuado.
Lead Scoring: Cómo saber que contactos están dispuestos a hablar con tu equipo de ventas
Lead Nurturing: Cómo entregar el contenido correcto a la persona adecuada en el momento oportuno
Muzika është pjesë e formimit kulturor dhe nevojë e përhershme e njeriut.
Ajo komunikon në mënyrë të drejtpërdrejtë dhe kreative me tërë qenien e tij duke ia formuar mjedisin tingëllor.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Communityand Hospital MedicaBetseyCalderon89
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Community
and Hospital Medical Record Integration
on Management of Behavioral Health
in the Emergency Department
Stephanie Ngo, MD
Mohammad Shahsahebi, MD, MBA
Sean Schreiber, MSED, LPC
Fred Johnson, MBA
Mina Silberberg, PhD
Abstract
This study evaluated the correlation of an emergency department embedded care coordinator
with access to community and medical records in decreasing hospital and emergency
department use in patients with behavioral health issues. This retrospective cohort study
presents a 6-month pre-post analysis on patients seen by the care coordinator (n=524). Looking
at all-cause healthcare utilization, care coordination was associated with a significant median
decrease of one emergency department visit per patient (p G 0.001) and a decrease of 9.5 h in
emergency department length of stay per average visit per patient (pG0.001). There was no
significant effect on the number of hospitalizations or hospital length of stay. This intervention
demonstrated a correlation with reducing emergency department use in patients with behavioral
health issues, but no correlation with reducing hospital utilization. This under-researched
approach of integrating medical records at point-of-care could serve as a model for better
emergency department management of behavioral health patients.
Address correspondence to Mohammad Shahsahebi, MD, MBA, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke
University, Durham, NC, USA. Phone: (919) 342-8845; Email: [email protected]
Stephanie Ngo, MD, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Fred Johnson, MBA, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Mina Silberberg, PhD, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Mohammad Shahsahebi, MD, MBA, Northern Piedmont Community Care, Durham, NC, USA. Phone: (919) 342-8845;
Email: [email protected]
Fred Johnson, MBA, Northern Piedmont Community Care, Durham, NC, USA.
Sean Schreiber, MSED, LPC, Alliance Behavioral Health, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 2017. 651–658. c)2017 National Council for Behavioral Health. DOI
10.1007/s11414-017-9574-7
Evaluating the effectiveness of community NGO ET AL. 651
Introduction
Background
Patients with behavioral health issues often require more resource-intensive care and are more
likely to be frequent users of health services.1–7 Brennan et al. found that patients with at least one
primary psychiatric visit to the emergency department (ED) were 4.6 times more likely than those
without a primary psychiatric visit to be classified as high utilizers of health services overall, and
that on average, high utilizers with a primary psychiatric visit had a significantly higher number of
ED visits than non-psychiatric high utilizers.7
Furthermore, Bboarding^ of patients with behavioral health issues has become a serious problem
for patients who requi ...
Improving Discharge Procedures to Reduce Unnecessary Emergency DMalikPinckney86
Improving Discharge Procedures to Reduce Unnecessary Emergency Department Return Visits
Name:
DNP Project Proposal
Purdue University Global
1
Unnecessary return visits to the emergency department are a problem for most healthcare facilities face across Florida and other states.
Unnecessary return visits are indicators of poor care quality.
Numerous studies have demonstrated emergency departments discharge procedures are a significant contributor to unnecessary return visits (Taylor, 2000).
This issue creates gabs in continuity of care for patients resulting in an inadequate or incomplete emergency department discharge.
The healthcare providers must realize that inadequate discharge negatively impacts patient compliance with care, treatments and follow-ups.
Purdue University Global | This is Where the Title of the Presentation Will Go
2
Introduction
Unnecessary return visits to the emergency department are a problem for most healthcare facilities face across Florida and other states. Unnecessary return visits are indicators of poor care quality. Numerous studies have demonstrated emergency departments discharge procedures are a significant contributor to unnecessary return visits (Taylor, 2000). This issue creates gabs in continuity of care for patients resulting in an inadequate or incomplete emergency department discharge. The healthcare providers must realize that inadequate discharge negatively impacts patient compliance with care, treatments and follow-ups. Providing verbal and pre-formatted written discharge instructions to the patient does not guarantee that the patient understands information provided. The patient must understand the medical information given and participates in their care. The best way to achieve patient understanding is communicating, and reinforcing while acknowledging culture, belief and language barriers.
2
Project Purpose
The purpose of this project is to implement a discharge tool that will help healthcare providers to better communicate with patients and better achieve patient understanding.
The proposed intervention is to implement a discharge checklist tool that enables patients to document their understanding of discharge instructions by marking and answering questions about the discharge instructions packet.
The patient and the provider will document the exchange by both signing the discharge tool. The tool will remain in the patient’s medical records.
Cite your slides here
3
Introduction
The purpose of this project is to implement a discharge tool that will help healthcare providers to better communicate with patients and better achieve patient understanding. The proposed intervention is to implement a discharge checklist tool that enables patients to document their understanding of discharge instructions by marking and answering questions about the discharge instructions packet. The patient and the provider will document the exchange by both signing the discharge tool. The ...
While the cost of living in an assisted living community is often a shock to perspective residents, it is important to understand the value proposition of any facility you are considering to fully appreciate what your money is paying for. At United Methodist Communities, our non-profit, faith based mission insures that the costs of your care, pay for your care, and not corporate profits. Visit https://umcommunities.org/
A look at strategies for lowering hospital readmissions across the continuum of care.
Hospital readmissions are a multi-dimensional problem. No single player or entity is entirely responsible for reducing excess readmissions. By improving our understanding of each touch point along the patient care continuum, strategies can be developed that ultimately reduce total readmissions.
This paper explores the roles of patients and providers in reducing readmissions and reviews several strategies that each can implement to help reduce readmission rates.
-Which patients are at high risk of hospital readmission?
-Comprehensive discharge planning strategies
-The physician’s role in lowering hospital readmission rates
-Optimizing communications handoffs between providers
-Building patient-centered transitional care models
-End of life planning
2021-2022 NTTAP Webinar: Fundamentals of Comprehensive CareCHC Connecticut
Join us as we discuss the core concepts of team-based care and introduce elements of team-based care that builds upon these basics to support your teams in advancing their capability to provide satisfying and effective care to complex patient populations. .
We will be joined by Margaret Flinter, Senior Vice President/Clinical Director for Community Health Center, Inc., and both Thomas Bodenheimer, MD, Physician and Founding Director, and Rachel Willard Grace, Director, from the Center for Excellence in Primary Care.
Unit 1Emergency Department Overcrowding Due to L.docxwillcoxjanay
Unit 1
Emergency Department Overcrowding Due to Lack of Access to Primary Care
Teresa Cochran
November 12, 2015
Emergency Department Overcrowding Due to Lack of Access to Primary Care
Emergency Department overcrowding related to patients seeking care for non-emergent conditions is an increasing concern for hospitals across the country. In rural areas, this issue is of concern not only for patient care but also has an impact economically on hospital financial viability.
Current Situation
Emergency Departments are designed to provide expedient care for individuals with emergent, life-threatening situations. However, in the current state, emergency departments are increasingly serving as a source of providing primary care. The resulting inappropriate use of the emergency department for non-emergent visits has been shown to increases cost, impact patient safety and quality.
Healthcare organizations must find and development innovative methods to provide quality patient care while maintaining low cost and maximum efficiencies. While demand for Emergency Services grows in part due to an aging population, the volume also has grown due to lack of primary care physicians and patient preference. The financial pressures faced by hospitals due to reductions in reimbursement necessitate a restructuring of the standard model of healthcare care delivery.
Problem Statement
As the population continues to grow emergency departments will continue to see not only acute illness but more chronic illness. It is essential for health care systems to continue in developing new and innovative means related to optimization of care delivery. Specifically this will identify factors that affect overutilization of the emergency department by individuals that are more appropriately treated in the primary care setting. Therefore, the increasing use of emergency departments will impact overall patient care due to lack of continuity that is provided in the primary care setting for chronic illness.
Research Objective
This research proposal will evaluate the feasibility of incorporating a medical home into the emergency department setting, therefore, reducing overcrowding in the Emergency Department. This increased access to primary care will ultimately increase access to quality care in the most appropriate cost-effective setting
Research Question
The intended purpose of this research proposal will examine the concept volume and acuity of patients seen in the Emergency Department. The following questions will be addressed. What measures can be implemented to reduce the overutilization of the ED yet offer the appropriate level of care for the patient? What barriers are associated with accessing sustained primary care?
Hypothesis
In order to improve outcomes, healthcare organizations must evaluate the feasibility of healthcare redesign related to the delivery of care. By restructuring how and where care is delivered will reduce the number of non-eme ...
Showcases digital health implementation in Ontario
hospitals.
Each story is focused around a key challenge,
an explanation of the process taken to address it, and
a reflection on the impact
Care coordination synchronizes the delivery of a patient’s health care from multiple providers and specialists. The goals of coordinated care are to improve health outcomes by ensuring that care from disparate providers is not delivered in silos, and to help reduce health care costs by eliminating redundant tests and procedures.
Similar to Englander_et_al-2012-Journal_of_Hospital_Medicine (20)
1. TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE
Planning and Designing the Care Transitions Innovation (C-TraIn) for
Uninsured and Medicaid Patients
Honora Englander, MD* and Devan Kansagara, MD, MCR
Departments of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University (Englander/Kansagara) and Portland VA Medical Center (Kansagara), Portland, Oregon.
BACKGROUND: Uninsured and Medicaid patients are
particularly vulnerable as they transition from hospital to
home. Transitional care improvement programs require time
and capital, incentives for which may be unclear for those
lacking a third-party payor. This article describes our
experience developing a hospital-funded transitional care
program for uninsured and Medicaid patients.
METHODS: We performed an inpatient needs assessment,
convened multi-stakeholder work groups, and engaged
institutional change-agents to inform program development
and a business case.
RESULTS: We mapped needs to specific program
elements, including a transitional care nurse, pharmacy
consult and provision of medications for uninsured patients,
medical home linkages including community payment
for medical homes, and monthly quality improvement
meetings. A business case was informed by local needs
and utilization data, and compelled the hospital to invest in
up-front resources for this population.
DISCUSSION: We are studying our program’s impact
on 30-day readmission and emergency department
rates through a clustered, randomized controlled
trial. Lessons from our experience may be useful to
others aiming to improve care for socioeconomically
disadvantaged patients. Journal of Hospital Medicine
2012;7:524–529. VC 2012 Society of Hospital Medicine
Hospital readmissions are common and costly, and
represent a significant burden to the healthcare system.
The challenges of postdischarge medication uncertainty,
lack of self-management support, and lack of timely
access to health professionals1
are compounded in
uninsured and Medicaid individuals by limited access
to medications and primary care, financial strain, inse-
cure housing, and limited social support.2
Our hospital cares for a large number of uninsured
and low-income publicly insured patients. The Port-
land area safety-net, which consists of a network of
14 federally qualified health centers and free clinics,
has limited capacity for uncompensated care. Unin-
sured patients—and to a lesser degree, Medicaid
patients—have difficulty establishing primary care.
Prior to the implementation of our program, unin-
sured and Medicaid patients without a usual source of
care were given a list of safety-net clinics at discharge,
but frequently could not access appointments or navi-
gate the complex system. There were no well-devel-
oped partnerships between hospital and outpatient
clinics for uninsured or Medicaid patients. The hospi-
tal lacked a systematic approach to securing postdi-
scharge follow-up and peridischarge patient education,
and uninsured patients were financially responsible for
most medications upon discharge. The costs of
uncompensated or undercompensated potentially pre-
ventable readmissions for these patients, along with
the recognition of gaps in quality, ultimately provided
the rationale for a medical center-funded transitional
care intervention for uninsured and low-income pub-
licly insured patients.
Several transitional care improvement programs
have shown effectiveness in reducing hospital readmis-
sions,1,3–5
but most have been conducted in settings
where patients have secure access to outpatient care,
and none have focused specifically on uninsured or
Medicaid patients. Moreover, the development of
these programs requires time and capital. Transitional
care programs that have published results, to date,
have been funded through government or private
foundation grants1,3–5
; however, broader implementa-
tion of transitional care innovations will require finan-
cial and intellectual engagement of healthcare institu-
tions themselves.
This report describes development of the Care
Transitions Innovation (C-TraIn), a multicomponent
transitional care intervention for uninsured and low-
income publicly insured adults at a large, urban aca-
demic medical center, Oregon Health & Science
University (OHSU). Because institutional funding and
engagement is critical to the sustainability and scal-
ability of similar programs, we also describe our pro-
cess for gaining institutional support. Our hypothesis
is that C-TraIn can reduce readmissions and emer-
gency department (ED) use at 30 days after hospital
discharge, compared with usual care.
*Address for correspondence and reprint requests: Honora Englander,
MD, Department of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Mail
Code BTE 119, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR 97239;
E-mail: englandh@ohsu.edu
Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of
this article.
Received: August 12, 2011; Revised: January 20, 2012; Accepted:
January 21, 2012
2012 Society of Hospital Medicine DOI 10.1002/jhm.1926
Published online in Wiley Online Library (Wileyonlinelibrary.com).
524 An Official Publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine Journal of Hospital Medicine Vol 7 | No 7 | September 2012
2. METHODS
Engaging Institutional Leaders
Early and continued efforts to engage hospital admin-
istrators were integral to our ultimate success in gain-
ing institutional funding and leadership support.
Initially, we convened what we called a Health Systems
Morbidity and Mortality conference, featuring an unin-
sured patient who told of his postdischarge experiences
and costly, potentially preventable readmission. We
invited a broad array of potential stakeholders, includ-
ing representatives from hospital administration, hospi-
tal case managers and social workers, community
safety-net providers, inpatient and outpatient physicians,
residents, and medical students. Our patient was previ-
ously admitted to OHSU and diagnosed with pneumo-
nia, hypothyroidism, sleep apnea, and depression. At
discharge, he was given a list of low-cost clinics; how-
ever, he was unable to arrange follow-up, could not
afford prescriptions, and felt overwhelmed trying to nav-
igate a complex system. Consequently, he received no
outpatient healthcare and his illnesses progressed.
Unable to stay awake as a long-haul trucker, he lost his
job and subsequently his housing, and was readmitted
to the intensive care unit with severe hypercarbic respi-
ratory failure, volume overload, and hypothyroidism.
The $130,000 charge for his 19-day rehospitalization
was largely un-recuperated by the hospital. The case
was a stark example of the patient-safety and financial
costs of fragmented care, and the conference was a
nidus for further institutional engagement and program
development, the key steps of which are described in
Table 1.
Planning the Intervention
Findings from a patient needs assessment and commu-
nity stakeholder meetings—described below—directly
informed a multicomponent intervention that includes
linkages and payment for medical homes for unin-
sured patients who lack access to outpatient care, a
transitional care nurse whose care bridges inpatient
and outpatient settings, inpatient pharmacy consulta-
tion, and provision of 30 days of medications at hos-
pital discharge for uninsured patients (Table 2).
Needs Assessment
We conducted a mixed-methods needs assessment of
consecutive nonelderly adult inpatients (<65 years
old) admitted to general medicine and cardiology,
between July and October 2009, with no insurance,
Medicaid, or Medicare–Medicaid. Five volunteer med-
ical and pre-medical students surveyed 116 patients
(see Supporting Information survey, Appendix 2, in the
online version of this article). Forty patients reported
prior admission within the last 6 months. With these
participants, we conducted in-depth semi-structured
interviews assessing self-perceived transitional care
TABLE 1. Key Steps in Gaining Institutional Buy-in
Time Key Step How Step Was Achieved Take Home Points
July 2008–July 2009 1. Identified key stakeholders Considered varied stakeholders impacted by transitional
care gaps for uninsured and Medicaid patients
Casting a wide net early in the process promoted high level of
engagement and allowed self-identification of some stakeholders
2. Framed problems and opportunities;
exposed costs of existing
system shortcomings
Educational conference (that we called a Health Systems MM)
fostered a blame-free environment to explore varied perspectives
Individual patient story made policy issue more accessible to
a wide range of stakeholders
Discussion of exposed drivers and costs of misaligned incentives;
highlighted inroads to developing a business case for change
Oct 2008–June 2009 3. Identified administrative allies and
leaders with high bridging capital
Follow-up with administrator after Health System MM allowed
further identification of key administrative stakeholders
Administrator insight highlighted institutional priorities
and strategic plans
Ongoing meetings— over 9 mo—to advocate for change,
explore support for program development
Key ally within administration facilitated conversation with executive
leadership whose support was a critical for program success
July 2009–June 2010 4. Framed processes locally with
continued involvement from
multiple stakeholders
Performed multicomponent needs assessment Patient assessment included inpatients for ease
of survey administration
Utilized efforts of student volunteers for low-budget option
Existing administrative support aided patient tracking
Non-integrated health system and lack of claims data for uninsured
limited usefulness of administrative utilization data
5. Performed cost analysis to further
support the business and
quality case
Used OHSU data from needs assessment patient sample
to estimate potential costs and savings of saved
readmissions and avoided ED visits
Business case highlighted existing costs to OHSU for
uncompensated care; program presented a solution to realign
incentives and better allocate existing hospital expenditures
Qualitative patient interviews exposed opportunity for
quality improvement
Highlighted pilot as an opportunity for institutional learning about
transitional care improvements
6. Use needs assessment to
map intervention
Drew upon local and national health systems expertise
through literature review and consultation with local
and national program leaders
OHSU’s Care Transitions Innovation (C-TraIn) includes elements
aimed at improving access, patient education, care coordination,
and systems integration (Table 2)
Matched patient needs to specific elements of program design
Abbreviations: ED, emergency department; MM, morbidity and mortality; OHSU, Oregon Health Science University.
Care Transitions for the Underserved | Englander and Kansagara
An Official Publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine Journal of Hospital Medicine Vol 7 | No 7 | September 2012 525
3. barriers. Investigators drew preliminary themes from
the interviews but delayed a scientifically rigorous qual-
itative analysis, given a compressed timeline in which
to meet program development needs. Of the 116
patients surveyed, 22 had Medicare–Medicaid. Given
that many of these patients discharged to skilled nurs-
ing facilities, we focused program development using
data from the 94 uninsured and Medicaid patients (Ta-
ble 3).
Finding 1: Thirty-three percent of uninsured and
11% of Medicaid patients lacked a usual source of
care. This was highest among Portland-area residents
(45%). Program element: We forged relationships
with 3 outpatient clinics and developed a contractual
relationship whereby OHSU pays for medical homes
for uninsured patients lacking usual care. Finding 2:
Patients were unclear as to how to self-manage care
or who to contact with questions after hospitalization.
Program element: Transitional care nurse provides in-
tensive peridischarge education, performs home visits
within 3 days of discharge, and serves as a point
person for patients during the peridischarge period.
Finding 3: Among uninsured patients, cost was the
leading barrier to taking medications as prescribed
and often led to self-rationing of medications without
provider input. Program element: We developed a
low-cost, value-based formulary for uninsured patients
that parallels partnering clinic formularies, $4 plans,
and medication assistance programs. After 30 days of
program-funded medications, patients then get medi-
cations through these other sources. Inpatient pharma-
cists consult on all patients to reconcile medications,
identify access and adherence gaps, provide patient
education, and communicate across settings. Finding
TABLE 2. Key Program Elements and Resources
Program Element Description Resources per 200 Patients
Transitional care RN Augments patient education and care coordination in the hospital until 30
days after discharge. Tasks include:
1.0 FTE nurse salary*
developing a personal health record with inpatients
completing a home visit within 72 hr of discharge to focus on medication
reconciliation and patient self-management
low-risk patients receive 3 calls and no home visit (see Supporting Information,
Appendix 1, in the online version of this article)
2 subsequent phone calls to provide additional coaching, identify unmet needs,
and close the loop on incomplete financial paperwork
The nurse provides a warm handoff with clinic staff, assists in scheduling timely posthospital follow-up, and
assures timely transfer of DC summaries. She coordinates posthospital care management with
Medicaid case-workers when available.
Pharmacy Consultation: Inpatient pharmacists reconcile and simplify medication regimens,
educate patients, and assess adherence barriers.
0.4 FTE inpatient pharmacist salary
Prescription support: For uninsured patients, pharmacists guide MD prescribing towards medications available
on the C-TraIn value-based formulary, a low-cost formulary that reflects medications available through
$4 plans, a Medicaid formulary, and FQHC on-site pharmacies.
Estimated $12/prescription;
6.5 prescriptions/patient†
Uninsured patients are given 30 days of bridging prescription medications at
hospital discharge free of charge.
Outpatient medical home and
specialty care linkages
OHSU has partnered with outpatient clinics on a per-patient basis to support funding of primary care for
uninsured patients who lack a usual source of care. Clinics also provide coordinated care for
Medicaid patients without assigned primary care, and have committed to engaging in continuous
quality improvement. Clinics include an academic general internal medicine practice, an FQHC
specializing in addiction and care for the homeless, and an FQHC that serves a low-income rural population.
Estimated 8 primary care visits/yr
at $205/visit (FQHC reimbursement
rate) equates to $1640/ patient/yr.
Timely posthospital specialty care related to index admission diagnoses is coordinated
through OHSU’s outpatient specialty clinics.
Monthly care coordination meetings We convene a diverse team of community clinic champions, OHSU inpatient and outpatient pharmacy and nurse
representatives, hospital administrative support, and a CareOregon representive.
At each meeting, we review individual patient cases, seek feedback from diverse, and
previously siloed, team members, and engage in ongoing quality improvement.
Abbreviations: DC, discharge; FQHC, federally qualified health centers; FTE, full-time equivalent; OHSU, Oregon Health Science University; RN, registered nurse. *We do not charge for home visits during pilot phase of imple-
mentation. †
Based on our experience with the first 6 months of intervention.
TABLE 3. Needs Assessment Summary Findings
(July 1–October 1, 2009)
Uninsured
(n ¼ 43 patients)
Medicaid
(n ¼ 51 patients)
Lack usual source of care (%) 33.3 11.1*
Self-reported 6 mo rehospitalization (%) 60.0 48.6
Average no. Rx prior to hospitalization 4.4 13.8
Barriers to taking meds as prescribed (%) 42.9 21.6*
Cost of meds as leading barrier (%) 30.0 2.9*
Marginal housing (%) 40.5 32.4
Low health literacy (%) 41.5 41.7
Transportation barrier (%) 11.9 31.4*
Comorbid depression (%) 54.8 45.9
Income 30 K (%) 79.5 96.8
*P 0.05 for uninsured vs Medicaid.
Englander and Kansagara | Care Transitions for the Underserved
526 An Official Publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine Journal of Hospital Medicine Vol 7 | No 7 | September 2012
4. 4: Comorbid depression was common. Program ele-
ment: We sought partnerships with clinics with inte-
grated mental health services. Finding 5: Over half of
patients live in 3 counties surrounding Portland. Pro-
gram element: We restricted our intervention to
patients residing in local counties and included postdi-
scharge home visits in our model. Partnering clinics
match patient geographic distribution. Finding 6: Self-
reported 6-month readmission (60%) rates exceeded
rates estimated by hospital administrative data (18%),
supporting qualitative findings that patients seek care
at numerous hospitals. Program element: Given that
utilization claims data are unavailable for the unin-
sured, we included phone follow-up surveys to assess
self-reported utilization 30 days postdischarge. Find-
ing 7: Using administrative data, we estimated that
the hospital loses an average of $11,000 per readmis-
sion per patient in direct, unremunerated costs. Indi-
rect costs (such as costs of hospital staff) and opportu-
nity costs (of potential revenue from an insured
patient occupying the bed) were excluded, thus pre-
senting a conservative estimate of cost savings.
Program element: We used local cost data to support
the business case and emphasize potential value of an
up-front investment in transitional care.
Defining the Setting
We convened a series of 3 work group meetings with
diverse internal and external stakeholders (Table 4) to
further define an intervention in the context of local
health system realities. Work groups shaped the pro-
gram in several specific ways. First, community clinic
leaders emphasized that limited specialty access is an
important barrier when caring for recently hospital-
ized uninsured and Medicaid patients. They felt
expanded postdischarge access to specialists would be
important to increase their capacity for recently dis-
charged patients. Thus, we streamlined patients’ post-
hospital specialty access for conditions treated during
hospitalization. Second, initially we considered linking
with 1 clinic; however, health systems researchers and
clinic providers cautioned us, suggesting that partner-
ing with multiple clinics would make our work more
broadly applicable. Finally, pharmacists and financial
assistance staff revealed that financial assistance forms
are often not completed during hospitalization
because inpatients lack access to income documenta-
tion. This led us to incorporate help with financial
paperwork into the postdischarge intervention.
Pilot Testing
We conducted pilot testing over 4 weeks, incorporat-
ing a Plan-Do-Study-Act approach. For example, our
transitional care nurse initially used an intervention
guide with a list of steps outlined; however, we
quickly discovered that the multiple and varied needs
of this patient population—including housing, trans-
portation, and food—were overwhelming and pulled
the nurse in many directions. In consultation with our
quality improvement experts, we reframed the inter-
vention guide as a checklist to be completed for each
patient.
Pilot testing also underscored the importance of
monthly meetings to promote shared learning and cre-
ate a forum for communication and problem solving
across settings. During these meetings, patient case dis-
cussions inform continuous quality improvement and
promote energy-sustaining team-building. Information
is then disseminated to each clinic site and arm of the
intervention through a designated ‘‘champion’’ from
each group. We also planned to meet monthly with the
hospital executive director to balance service and
research needs, and engage in rapid-cycle change
throughout our 1-year demonstration project.
Funding the Program
We talked to others with experience implementing
nurse-led transitional care interventions. Based on
these discussions, we anticipated our nurse would be
able to see 200 patients over the course of 1 year, and
we developed our budget accordingly (Table 2). From
our needs assessment, we knew 60% of patients
reported at least 1 hospitalization in the 6 months
prior. If we assumed that 60% (120) of the 200
patients randomized to our intervention would get read-
mitted, then a 20% reduction would lead to 24 avoided
readmissions and translate into $264,000 in savings for
the health system. Even though the hospital would not
reap all of these savings, as patients get admitted to
other area hospitals, hospital administration acknowl-
edged the value of setting the stage for community-wide
solutions. Moreover, the benefit was felt to extend
beyond financial savings to improved quality and insti-
tutional learning around transitional care.
TABLE 4. Key Stakeholders for Program
Development and Implementation
Clinical staff
Hospital medicine physician
General internal medicine physician
Hospital ward nurse staff
Pharmacy (inpatient, outpatient, medication assistance programs)
Care management/social work
Emergency medicine
Health system leadership
Hospital administrative leadership
Primary care clinic leadership
Safety-net clinic leadership
Specialty clinic leadership
Hospital business development and strategic planning
CareOregon (Medicaid managed care) leadership
Other
Patients
Health systems researchers
Clinical informatics
Hospital financials (billing, financial screening, admitting)
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An Official Publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine Journal of Hospital Medicine Vol 7 | No 7 | September 2012 527
5. PROGRAM EVALUATION
We are conducting a clustered, randomized controlled
trial to evaluate C-TraIn’s impact on quality, access,
and high-cost utilization at 30 days after hospital dis-
charge. Results are anticipated in mid-2012. We chose
to perform an analysis clustered by admitting team,
because communication between the C-TraIn nurse,
physician team, and pharmacist consult services could
introduce secular change effects that could impact the
care received by other patients on a given team. There
are 5 general medicine resident teams, 1 hospitalist
service, and 1 cardiology service, and the physician
personnel for each team changes from month to
month. Because the cardiology and hospitalist services
differ slightly from resident teams, we chose a
randomized cross-over design such that intervention
and control teams are redesignated every 3 months.
To enhance internal validity, study personnel who
enroll patients and administer baseline and 30-day
surveys are blinded to intervention status. We are col-
lecting data on prior utilization, usual source of care,
outpatient access, insurance, patient activation,6
func-
tional status,7,8
self-rated health,7
health literacy, care
transitions education,9
alcohol and substance abuse, and
social support.10
Our primary outcome will be self-
reported 30-day hospital readmission and ED use. We
will also evaluate administrative claims data to identify
30-day OHSU readmission and ED utilization rates. We
will assess whether improved access to medications,
rates of outpatient follow-up and time to follow-up
mediate any effect on primary outcomes. Secondary out-
comes will include outpatient utilization, patient activa-
tion, self-rated health, and functional status.
Given limited experience with transitional care pro-
grams in socioeconomically disadvantaged patients,
we are measuring acceptability and feasibility by
tracking rates of those declining the intervention, and
through semi-structured interviews at 30 days. We are
monitoring fidelity to core elements of the program
through chart and checklist reviews, and seeking pro-
vider feedback through in-person meetings with key
implementers. To ensure possibility of broader adop-
tion beyond OHSU, we are developing a toolkit that
defines core program elements and can be adapted for
use in various settings.
DISCUSSION
Using a process of broad stakeholder engagement,
exposure of financial incentives, and data-driven
understanding of institutional and population needs,
we built consensus and gained institutional financial
commitment for implementation of a multicomponent
transitional care program for uninsured and Medicaid
patients. Our experience is relevant to other hospital
systems, and may have particular relevance to aca-
demic medical centers, whose tripartite mission of
clinical care, research, and education make them a
natural place for healthcare reform.11
Several key lessons from our experience may be
widely applicable. First, key administrative allies
helped us understand institutional priorities and iden-
tify key institutional change-agents. Though initial
attempts to gain support were met cautiously, persis-
tent advocacy, development of a strong business case,
and support from several administrative allies com-
pelled further leadership support. Second, unlike tradi-
tional grant funding cycles, hospital budgets operate
in real-time rapid-change cycles, necessitating rapid
data collection, analysis, and program design. Such
demands could potentially threaten the viability of the
program itself, or result in premature diffusion of
novel practices into disparate populations. Communi-
cation with administrative leadership about the value
of sound research design within the context of faster-
paced institutional needs was important and allowed
time for data-driven program development and diffu-
sion. Simultaneously, we recognized the need to move
quickly, provide regular progress updates, and use
existing institutional resources, such as volunteer stu-
dents and business development office, when possible.
We found that cross-site hospital–community part-
nerships are an essential program element. Partnership
occurs through a payment agreement and through
active engagement in ongoing quality improvement,
including clinic representation at monthly team meet-
ings. Clinic partnerships have enabled multidiscipli-
nary cross-site communication and relationships that
facilitate innovation across routinely siloed elements
of the system, allowing the team to anticipate and
respond to patient problems before they lead to read-
missions or poor outcomes. Our experience matches
findings from recent program evaluations that found
that care coordination attempts are unsuccessful with-
out strong cross-site linkages.12
These linkages are
especially challenging and needed for uninsured and
Medicaid patients, given their traditional lack of
access and the additional social and financial barriers
that influence their care.13
Limitations of our study include: implementation at a
single, academic medical center; secular changes (which
we mitigate against using randomized trial design); and
potential for low power, if readmission rates are lower
than anticipated from needs assessment data. Addition-
ally, the need for a willing and invested program cham-
pion to coordinate an often messy, complex interven-
tion may limit generalizability.
While transitional care programs continue to prolif-
erate in response to increasingly recognized gaps in
a fragmented care system,14,15
few interventions spe-
cifically address the needs of socioeconomically dis-
advantaged patients. The major study that did5
was
conducted in Massachusetts, where many patients
received care through a state Free Care program and
robust local safety-net. Others have largely been tested
in integrated care settings,1
and target patients who
are part of managed care programs.1,4,16
Englander and Kansagara | Care Transitions for the Underserved
528 An Official Publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine Journal of Hospital Medicine Vol 7 | No 7 | September 2012
6. To our knowledge, there are no well-described pro-
grams that include explicit purchasing of outpatient
medical homes for uninsured patients who would not
otherwise have access to care. Our experience shifts
the paradigm of the role of hospitals in care for the
uninsured and underinsured: instead of a reactive,
uncoordinated role, we assert that the hospital’s stra-
tegic up-front allocation of resources has a sound
business, quality, and ethical foundation. This is espe-
cially important, given a new era of payment reform
and coordinated care organizations. There is an op-
portunity to both improve quality for the uninsured
and Medicaid patients, control costs, and gain valu-
able experience that can inform transitional care
improvements for broader patient populations. If
our study is successful in reducing readmissions,
there may be important implications as to how to
redefine the hospital’s role in outpatient access to
care linkages, especially for uninsured and Medicaid
patients.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Char Riley, Dawn Whitney, and Tara Harben
of OHSU, as well as volunteer research assistants Amie Leaverton,
Molly McClain, Emily Johnson, Travis Geraci, and Claudia Sells.
Disclosure: Nothing to report.
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