Why Health Systems Must Use Data Science to Improve OutcomesHealth Catalyst
In today’s improvement-driven healthcare environment, organizations must ensure that improvement measures help them reach desired outcomes and focus on the opportunities with optimal ROI. With data science-based analysis, health systems leverage machine learning to determine if improvement measures align with specific outcomes and avoid the risk and cost of carrying out interventions that are unlikely to support their goals.
There are four essential reasons that insights from data science help health systems implement and sustain improvement:
Measures aligned with desired outcomes drive improvement.
Improvement teams focus on processes they can impact.
Outcome-specific interventions might impact other outcomes.
Identifies opportunities with optimal ROI.
Healthcare Analytics: Right-Brain Advice in a Left-Brain WorldHealth Catalyst
U.S. healthcare is badly missing the soft, human side of healthcare analytics, especially as it impacts clinicians. How do we fix that? This webinar explores those ideas.
You won’t hear Dale talk about SQL, inner joins, outer joins, R, Python, logistic regression, random forest, or convolutional neural networks but instead, in this webinar he talks about the principles and philosophy of analytics.
For the most part, we’ve figured out the technology of analytics. That is all left-brain thinking—analytical, logical and methodical in nature—and it is literally getting easier every day with new data technology. But, in healthcare, we’re missing the right-brain thinking—creative and artistic in nature—that has almost nothing to do with technology but has everything to do with the human side of pursuing “data driven healthcare.”
Right-brain thinking is required for the oddities and shortcomings of healthcare data, and how to manage those shortcomings in the context of delivering data to the humans who we hope will consume it. The right-brain relates to the personality characteristics of the people who are leading your analytics strategy. It relates to the leadership culture of the organization and where that culture resides on a scale of transparency, internally and externally. The right-brain relates to behavioral economics, evolutionary psychology, human decision making theories, and the fundamental factors that motivate or demotivate human behavior. The right-brain relates to concepts like experimental design and PICO—patients, interventions, comparisons, and outcomes—that, if followed, can make your analytics more truthful and believable. It has to do with the way we negotiate and structure performance-based contracts that are loaded with quality metrics that either measure things that can’t be measured accurately or may measure the wrong thing, altogether.
You see, right-brained thinking in this left-brain world of analytics relates to a bunch of things, but mostly it relates to the Golden Rule of Data. Do unto others with data as you would have them do unto you.
User Group Kickoff and New Product Roadmap - HAS Session 12Health Catalyst
This session will be highly interactive, targeted primarily at existing Health Catalyst clients. First, our “three amigos” will introduce the concept of three user groups focused around analytics, deployment, and clinical knowledge assets, and solicit your feedback and input on the best way to collaborate and share best practices. Then we will introduce our new product category offerings, and solicit your interactive input and priorities as a guide to our future product roadmap.
Clinical Quality Strategy Forum: Research ReportLaurence Ewen
This report is based on survey findings of the delegates for the Clinical Quality Strategy Forum on the 2nd and 3rd April 2019, comprising of 100 Clinical Directors, Chief Nurses and other clinical leaders in the NHS.
To deepen our insights, we interviewed the highest decision makers in face-to-face and telephone interviews to discuss trends and issues being tackled in their organisations.
Making the shift to value-based care is not easy. However, a growing number of healthcare organizations are finding success leveraging Lean process improvement and health IT to reduce waste, lower costs, and improve quality.
In fact, leading health systems like Bon Secours, Prevea Health, and North Mississippi Medical Center are using these principles to improve care management processes and achieve better patient outcomes.
We have assembled these strategies into a new whitepaper. You will learn:
- How key concepts of Lean thinking can be applied to healthcare
- Why high-performing practices are using Lean to enable care team members to provide better care
- The financial advantages of a team-based, population health management approach in a value-based reimbursement system
White Paper - eCQMs: It's Time to Make Data Quality the No. 1 Priority Q-Centrix
This white paper will examine eCQM data quality issues and their implications. It will raise questions hospitals should consider when developing strategies to improve their eCQM capabilities. Lastly, it will outline how they can benefit from implementing better data quality control practices and present new developments in eCQM data collection and reporting.
Why Health Systems Must Use Data Science to Improve OutcomesHealth Catalyst
In today’s improvement-driven healthcare environment, organizations must ensure that improvement measures help them reach desired outcomes and focus on the opportunities with optimal ROI. With data science-based analysis, health systems leverage machine learning to determine if improvement measures align with specific outcomes and avoid the risk and cost of carrying out interventions that are unlikely to support their goals.
There are four essential reasons that insights from data science help health systems implement and sustain improvement:
Measures aligned with desired outcomes drive improvement.
Improvement teams focus on processes they can impact.
Outcome-specific interventions might impact other outcomes.
Identifies opportunities with optimal ROI.
Healthcare Analytics: Right-Brain Advice in a Left-Brain WorldHealth Catalyst
U.S. healthcare is badly missing the soft, human side of healthcare analytics, especially as it impacts clinicians. How do we fix that? This webinar explores those ideas.
You won’t hear Dale talk about SQL, inner joins, outer joins, R, Python, logistic regression, random forest, or convolutional neural networks but instead, in this webinar he talks about the principles and philosophy of analytics.
For the most part, we’ve figured out the technology of analytics. That is all left-brain thinking—analytical, logical and methodical in nature—and it is literally getting easier every day with new data technology. But, in healthcare, we’re missing the right-brain thinking—creative and artistic in nature—that has almost nothing to do with technology but has everything to do with the human side of pursuing “data driven healthcare.”
Right-brain thinking is required for the oddities and shortcomings of healthcare data, and how to manage those shortcomings in the context of delivering data to the humans who we hope will consume it. The right-brain relates to the personality characteristics of the people who are leading your analytics strategy. It relates to the leadership culture of the organization and where that culture resides on a scale of transparency, internally and externally. The right-brain relates to behavioral economics, evolutionary psychology, human decision making theories, and the fundamental factors that motivate or demotivate human behavior. The right-brain relates to concepts like experimental design and PICO—patients, interventions, comparisons, and outcomes—that, if followed, can make your analytics more truthful and believable. It has to do with the way we negotiate and structure performance-based contracts that are loaded with quality metrics that either measure things that can’t be measured accurately or may measure the wrong thing, altogether.
You see, right-brained thinking in this left-brain world of analytics relates to a bunch of things, but mostly it relates to the Golden Rule of Data. Do unto others with data as you would have them do unto you.
User Group Kickoff and New Product Roadmap - HAS Session 12Health Catalyst
This session will be highly interactive, targeted primarily at existing Health Catalyst clients. First, our “three amigos” will introduce the concept of three user groups focused around analytics, deployment, and clinical knowledge assets, and solicit your feedback and input on the best way to collaborate and share best practices. Then we will introduce our new product category offerings, and solicit your interactive input and priorities as a guide to our future product roadmap.
Clinical Quality Strategy Forum: Research ReportLaurence Ewen
This report is based on survey findings of the delegates for the Clinical Quality Strategy Forum on the 2nd and 3rd April 2019, comprising of 100 Clinical Directors, Chief Nurses and other clinical leaders in the NHS.
To deepen our insights, we interviewed the highest decision makers in face-to-face and telephone interviews to discuss trends and issues being tackled in their organisations.
Making the shift to value-based care is not easy. However, a growing number of healthcare organizations are finding success leveraging Lean process improvement and health IT to reduce waste, lower costs, and improve quality.
In fact, leading health systems like Bon Secours, Prevea Health, and North Mississippi Medical Center are using these principles to improve care management processes and achieve better patient outcomes.
We have assembled these strategies into a new whitepaper. You will learn:
- How key concepts of Lean thinking can be applied to healthcare
- Why high-performing practices are using Lean to enable care team members to provide better care
- The financial advantages of a team-based, population health management approach in a value-based reimbursement system
White Paper - eCQMs: It's Time to Make Data Quality the No. 1 Priority Q-Centrix
This white paper will examine eCQM data quality issues and their implications. It will raise questions hospitals should consider when developing strategies to improve their eCQM capabilities. Lastly, it will outline how they can benefit from implementing better data quality control practices and present new developments in eCQM data collection and reporting.
A Reference Architecture for Digital Health: The Health Catalyst Data Operati...Health Catalyst
There are essentially four strategic options to address the enterprise data platform requirements of today’s healthcare systems: (1) build your own, (2) buy from EHR vendors, (3) look to a Silicon Valley high-tech startup, and (4) partner with Health Catalyst or a handful of similar companies.
In this webinar, Health Catalyst’s CTO, Dale Sanders, comments on all four approaches, hoping to help you to assess your organization’s strategy against the options and vendors in each category.
It’s been exactly three years since Health Catalyst embarked on a major investment in its next-generation technology, the Data Operating System (DOS™) and its applications. This webinar is an update on the progress, less about marketing the technology, but rather offering DOS as a reference architecture that can support analytics, AI, text processing, data-first application development, and interoperability, as an all-in-one agile cost-savings architecture.
In addition to the successes, Dale comments on the challenges that Health Catalyst has faced under a very ambitious DOS development plan. In its current state, DOS has made some significant improvements to overcome early mistakes, and is now a very solid enterprise data platform. In the interests of industry-wide learning, Sanders will talk transparently about those mistakes and how those learnings are being applied to the DOS platform, positioning it to evolve gracefully over the next 25 years.
View the webinar to learn how the DOS reference architecture:
- Helps manage the 2,000+ compulsory measures in US healthcare
- Enables applications as varied as a real-time patient safety surveillance system, and an activity-based costing system in one platform
- Can ingest data of any type or velocity from over 300 healthcare source systems and growing
- Bundles tools, applications, and analytics that would cost 3-6x more to build on your own
- Compares to EHR vendors as an option to serve as an enterprise data and analytics platform
- Is a performant, sustainable, and maintainable platform for deploying AI models in the natural flow of the healthcare data pipeline
- Provides curated data content and models while still allowing for the agility of a late binding design option
- Functions as a reference architecture that all healthcare organizations and vendors will ultimately have to build in their pursuit of digital health
CFO Strategies for Balancing Fee-for-Service and ValuePhytel
Moving from fee-for-service to value-based care is not easy. However, leading health systems are all following a similar blueprint that enables the move to value-based care.
Download this whitepaper to learn how:
- Bon Secours Richmond - Closed 75,801 gaps in care within 12 months, generating $7 million in revenue for chronic & preventive care, while improving quality.
- Northeast Georgia Medical Center - Decreased HbA1C levels across uncontrolled diabetes by an average of 1.6 points within 120 days.
- Riverside Medical Center - Reduced unnecessary readmissions by 40% by using automation to reach and assess patients post discharge.
- Prevea Health - Increased care management productivity by 150% by automatically identifying high risk patients, and automating patient engagement.
How to commission for improving health outcomes: an introduction to choosing ...The King's Fund
This slide set is the first of two looking at how commissioners can make the best use of measurement to support commissioning for improved outcomes.
The slides introduce general concepts about approaches to measurement in health care, the uses of structure, process and outcome indicators, and how to achieve a good mix of indicators for commissioning.
Three Strategies to Deliver Patient-Centered Care in the Next NormalHealth Catalyst
Juggling financial demands, uncertain healthcare legislation, and COVID-19 can distract healthcare leaders from the most important aspect of care—patients. Delivering patient-centered care in this volatile market can be challenging, especially when traditional healthcare methods (e.g., in-person visits) are on hold. These sudden disruptions to routine care have highlighted the importance of keeping patients at the center of care, whether care delivery is in-person or virtual. Health systems can manage competing priorities, adjust to pandemic-induced changes, and deliver patient-centered care by focusing on three strategies:
Improve the patient experience.
Implement the Meaningful Measures Initiative.
Transition in-person visits to virtual.
How a Real-Time Automated Decision-Support Tool Can Cure the Prior Authorizat...Cognizant
A collaboration between Cognizant, the New England Healthcare Exchange Network and Informatics In Context is demonstrating how a real-time prior authorization (PA) system for medical and administrative processes saves time and money.
Good surfers are the consummate analysts. They dynamically process streams of seemingly unrelated information bypassing lesser opportunities, then strategically selecting the perfect wave.
The ability to tease out genuine opportunities amidst a tumult of noise is a hallmark of great analysts. By viewing these slides you will learn:
- The human elements of a great analyst.
- How to re-frame the role of technology in analysis.
- Healthcare knowledge required to maximize the value of a healthcare analyst.
John Wadsworth's (Senior Vice President of Client Engagement, Health Catalyst) engaging presentation style leverages simple and fun analogies to galvanize key concepts for technical, clinical, and executive audiences alike. Join us as he brings principles from the world of surfing and applies them to healthcare analytics.
Closed-Loop EHR Integration Targets Burnout, Improves WorkflowsHealth Catalyst
The widespread adoption of EHRs has significantly altered the workflows of physicians and other healthcare workers. However, while EHRs were developed to better organize patient data and improve care coordination, most require significant and sometimes duplicative documentation, often resulting in workforce burnout.
Health Catalyst’s new Closed-Loop Analytics™ service tackles the EHR workload challenge by helping healthcare providers optimize their use of analytics in existing workflows. Closed-Loop Analytics leverages the knowhow of Health Catalyst clinical workflow experts with work experience at EHR vendors such as Epic, Cerner, and Allscripts. The team works with health systems to deploy analytics solutions directly into the EHR and better leverage analytics to simplify workflows and improve outcomes.
In this webinar, you will learn how Closed-Loop Analytics can help you:
- Determine where end-users are wasting time on duplicative tasks and how to optimize the EHR build to develop efficiencies.
- Develop analytical tools and deploy them into the EHR for increased utilization and improved insights at the point of decision-making.
- See the value of expanded integration capabilities with an analytics tool embedded into the EHR, such as launching to a patient’s chart or initiating an update to a treatment team.
- Understand how interoperability and FHIR are revolutionizing workflow integration and how you can put them to work.
The convergence of separate health systems has led to
a great increase in data, which some organisations are
struggling to get to grips with. Harnessing analytic tools
and sharing knowledge is the best way forward
mHealth Israel_Future of Integrated Individualized Healthcare_Roche DiagnosticsLevi Shapiro
Presentation by Alexandra Eberhard, Sr. Director, Global Business Development, Roche Diagnostics on the "Future of Integrated Individualized Healthcare". Includes background about Roche Diagnostics and investments in innovation. Overview of Roche products and solutions with a portfolio covering the entire spectrum of diagnostics users. Emphasis on the triple aim of healthcare- The power of data and technology to enable the transformation from volume- to value-based healthcare. Interest in data for Pharma - drive more efficient R&D; DIA - develop novel patient care Dx solutions. Focus on the needs of labs, physicians & payers for better patient health. A suite of digital solutions that improve clinical & business outcomes. Suite of solutions to optimize the lab. Translating data into insights to achieve financial goals. A move from volume- to value-based care. New opportunities in the disease continuum- Holistic solutions approach. Expanding the focus towards earlier in the patient journey. Doing now what patients need next. Contact Alexandra Vallon-Eberhard, PhD MBA; Sr. Director Global Business Development; Diagnostics Lead for Innovation in Israel; Based in Basel, Switzerland; Email: alexandra.vallon_eberhard@roche.com
Top seven healthcare outcome measures of healthJosephMtonga1
The seven healthcare outcome measures are meant to understand the quality of health systems and how they could be measured and how quality care could be provided to clients.
United States Diagnostics Market Size, Share, Trend and Forecast 2026 | TechS...TechSci Research
According to #TechSci Research report, United States Diagnostics Market stood at USD30.08billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a steady rate of 5.17% during the forecast period.
Gain More Insight: https://bit.ly/3wWI0do
Get Sample Report: https://bit.ly/3ltFdo6
Website: https://www.techsciresearch.com/
Market Research News: https://techsciblog.com/
Reinventing Life Sciences: How emerging ecosystems fuel innovationIBM in Healthcare
Persistent disruptive forces in life sciences now threaten traditional business models over the medium to long term. While high rates of return and strong performance may have masked these forces in the past, today they must be recognized and addressed. Organizations need new ways to continue to thrive despite such hurdles.
This latest research study by IBM Instritute of Business Value in collaboration with the University of California, San Diego and Oxford Economics, led to a target innovation model that can guide organizations to discover operational efficiencies, nurture new growth and get positioned more strategically in the new life sciences and healthcare ecosystem.
A Reference Architecture for Digital Health: The Health Catalyst Data Operati...Health Catalyst
There are essentially four strategic options to address the enterprise data platform requirements of today’s healthcare systems: (1) build your own, (2) buy from EHR vendors, (3) look to a Silicon Valley high-tech startup, and (4) partner with Health Catalyst or a handful of similar companies.
In this webinar, Health Catalyst’s CTO, Dale Sanders, comments on all four approaches, hoping to help you to assess your organization’s strategy against the options and vendors in each category.
It’s been exactly three years since Health Catalyst embarked on a major investment in its next-generation technology, the Data Operating System (DOS™) and its applications. This webinar is an update on the progress, less about marketing the technology, but rather offering DOS as a reference architecture that can support analytics, AI, text processing, data-first application development, and interoperability, as an all-in-one agile cost-savings architecture.
In addition to the successes, Dale comments on the challenges that Health Catalyst has faced under a very ambitious DOS development plan. In its current state, DOS has made some significant improvements to overcome early mistakes, and is now a very solid enterprise data platform. In the interests of industry-wide learning, Sanders will talk transparently about those mistakes and how those learnings are being applied to the DOS platform, positioning it to evolve gracefully over the next 25 years.
View the webinar to learn how the DOS reference architecture:
- Helps manage the 2,000+ compulsory measures in US healthcare
- Enables applications as varied as a real-time patient safety surveillance system, and an activity-based costing system in one platform
- Can ingest data of any type or velocity from over 300 healthcare source systems and growing
- Bundles tools, applications, and analytics that would cost 3-6x more to build on your own
- Compares to EHR vendors as an option to serve as an enterprise data and analytics platform
- Is a performant, sustainable, and maintainable platform for deploying AI models in the natural flow of the healthcare data pipeline
- Provides curated data content and models while still allowing for the agility of a late binding design option
- Functions as a reference architecture that all healthcare organizations and vendors will ultimately have to build in their pursuit of digital health
CFO Strategies for Balancing Fee-for-Service and ValuePhytel
Moving from fee-for-service to value-based care is not easy. However, leading health systems are all following a similar blueprint that enables the move to value-based care.
Download this whitepaper to learn how:
- Bon Secours Richmond - Closed 75,801 gaps in care within 12 months, generating $7 million in revenue for chronic & preventive care, while improving quality.
- Northeast Georgia Medical Center - Decreased HbA1C levels across uncontrolled diabetes by an average of 1.6 points within 120 days.
- Riverside Medical Center - Reduced unnecessary readmissions by 40% by using automation to reach and assess patients post discharge.
- Prevea Health - Increased care management productivity by 150% by automatically identifying high risk patients, and automating patient engagement.
How to commission for improving health outcomes: an introduction to choosing ...The King's Fund
This slide set is the first of two looking at how commissioners can make the best use of measurement to support commissioning for improved outcomes.
The slides introduce general concepts about approaches to measurement in health care, the uses of structure, process and outcome indicators, and how to achieve a good mix of indicators for commissioning.
Three Strategies to Deliver Patient-Centered Care in the Next NormalHealth Catalyst
Juggling financial demands, uncertain healthcare legislation, and COVID-19 can distract healthcare leaders from the most important aspect of care—patients. Delivering patient-centered care in this volatile market can be challenging, especially when traditional healthcare methods (e.g., in-person visits) are on hold. These sudden disruptions to routine care have highlighted the importance of keeping patients at the center of care, whether care delivery is in-person or virtual. Health systems can manage competing priorities, adjust to pandemic-induced changes, and deliver patient-centered care by focusing on three strategies:
Improve the patient experience.
Implement the Meaningful Measures Initiative.
Transition in-person visits to virtual.
How a Real-Time Automated Decision-Support Tool Can Cure the Prior Authorizat...Cognizant
A collaboration between Cognizant, the New England Healthcare Exchange Network and Informatics In Context is demonstrating how a real-time prior authorization (PA) system for medical and administrative processes saves time and money.
Good surfers are the consummate analysts. They dynamically process streams of seemingly unrelated information bypassing lesser opportunities, then strategically selecting the perfect wave.
The ability to tease out genuine opportunities amidst a tumult of noise is a hallmark of great analysts. By viewing these slides you will learn:
- The human elements of a great analyst.
- How to re-frame the role of technology in analysis.
- Healthcare knowledge required to maximize the value of a healthcare analyst.
John Wadsworth's (Senior Vice President of Client Engagement, Health Catalyst) engaging presentation style leverages simple and fun analogies to galvanize key concepts for technical, clinical, and executive audiences alike. Join us as he brings principles from the world of surfing and applies them to healthcare analytics.
Closed-Loop EHR Integration Targets Burnout, Improves WorkflowsHealth Catalyst
The widespread adoption of EHRs has significantly altered the workflows of physicians and other healthcare workers. However, while EHRs were developed to better organize patient data and improve care coordination, most require significant and sometimes duplicative documentation, often resulting in workforce burnout.
Health Catalyst’s new Closed-Loop Analytics™ service tackles the EHR workload challenge by helping healthcare providers optimize their use of analytics in existing workflows. Closed-Loop Analytics leverages the knowhow of Health Catalyst clinical workflow experts with work experience at EHR vendors such as Epic, Cerner, and Allscripts. The team works with health systems to deploy analytics solutions directly into the EHR and better leverage analytics to simplify workflows and improve outcomes.
In this webinar, you will learn how Closed-Loop Analytics can help you:
- Determine where end-users are wasting time on duplicative tasks and how to optimize the EHR build to develop efficiencies.
- Develop analytical tools and deploy them into the EHR for increased utilization and improved insights at the point of decision-making.
- See the value of expanded integration capabilities with an analytics tool embedded into the EHR, such as launching to a patient’s chart or initiating an update to a treatment team.
- Understand how interoperability and FHIR are revolutionizing workflow integration and how you can put them to work.
The convergence of separate health systems has led to
a great increase in data, which some organisations are
struggling to get to grips with. Harnessing analytic tools
and sharing knowledge is the best way forward
mHealth Israel_Future of Integrated Individualized Healthcare_Roche DiagnosticsLevi Shapiro
Presentation by Alexandra Eberhard, Sr. Director, Global Business Development, Roche Diagnostics on the "Future of Integrated Individualized Healthcare". Includes background about Roche Diagnostics and investments in innovation. Overview of Roche products and solutions with a portfolio covering the entire spectrum of diagnostics users. Emphasis on the triple aim of healthcare- The power of data and technology to enable the transformation from volume- to value-based healthcare. Interest in data for Pharma - drive more efficient R&D; DIA - develop novel patient care Dx solutions. Focus on the needs of labs, physicians & payers for better patient health. A suite of digital solutions that improve clinical & business outcomes. Suite of solutions to optimize the lab. Translating data into insights to achieve financial goals. A move from volume- to value-based care. New opportunities in the disease continuum- Holistic solutions approach. Expanding the focus towards earlier in the patient journey. Doing now what patients need next. Contact Alexandra Vallon-Eberhard, PhD MBA; Sr. Director Global Business Development; Diagnostics Lead for Innovation in Israel; Based in Basel, Switzerland; Email: alexandra.vallon_eberhard@roche.com
Top seven healthcare outcome measures of healthJosephMtonga1
The seven healthcare outcome measures are meant to understand the quality of health systems and how they could be measured and how quality care could be provided to clients.
United States Diagnostics Market Size, Share, Trend and Forecast 2026 | TechS...TechSci Research
According to #TechSci Research report, United States Diagnostics Market stood at USD30.08billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a steady rate of 5.17% during the forecast period.
Gain More Insight: https://bit.ly/3wWI0do
Get Sample Report: https://bit.ly/3ltFdo6
Website: https://www.techsciresearch.com/
Market Research News: https://techsciblog.com/
Reinventing Life Sciences: How emerging ecosystems fuel innovationIBM in Healthcare
Persistent disruptive forces in life sciences now threaten traditional business models over the medium to long term. While high rates of return and strong performance may have masked these forces in the past, today they must be recognized and addressed. Organizations need new ways to continue to thrive despite such hurdles.
This latest research study by IBM Instritute of Business Value in collaboration with the University of California, San Diego and Oxford Economics, led to a target innovation model that can guide organizations to discover operational efficiencies, nurture new growth and get positioned more strategically in the new life sciences and healthcare ecosystem.
Esta presentación fue realizada por Adriana Hernández Hernández con la finalidad de que mi profesor y otras personas que tienen acceso a slideshare puedan ver mis presentaciones en Power Point
Harness Your Clinical and Financial Data with an Enterprise Health Informat...Perficient, Inc.
The importance of Enterprise Health Information Exchange (EHIE) as a key way to empower your physicians and patients and demonstrate meaningful use of electronic health records:
- Present the business case for EHIE as an important architecture that matters to progressive health systems
- Take a look at some of the market-leading EHIE architectures and products
- Provide real exam...ples of organizations that are using EHIE to improve their operations
in order to meet cost reduction targets, CMOs
* Share patient data across ecosystems
* Embed shared organizational intelligence
* Establish guidance for quality & cost within physician workflows
* Prepare physician leaders to create a culture of continual improvement
The Foundations of Success in Population Health ManagementHealth Catalyst
From hospital systems to large employers, organizations are increasingly taking on financial risk for the health of populations. Drivers of this trend include the update to the MSSP model, the recent CMS Primary Cares Initiative announcement, the increasing prevalence of the Medicare Advantage model, innovative partnerships in the self-insured employer space, and the proliferation of Medicaid ACOs. Yet while market pressures push organizations toward population risk, they don't necessarily help them succeed: most organizations are struggling to attain or sustain the dual imperatives of high-quality care and cost containment. A primary reason? Short-sighted and tactical approaches that don't provide the flexible data infrastructure and tools to adapt to emerging trends in population health—or to support short-term contractual requirements while building toward long-term success.
View this launch webinar to learn about Health Catalyst’s Population Health Foundations solution, a data and analytics-first starter set aimed at optimizing performance in value-based risk arrangements and providing the data ecosystem that will flex and adapt to complex needs of risk-bearing organizations. Solution services ensure that the strategic value of data is maximized to improve performance in risk contracts—and provide side-by-side subject matter expert partnership for establishing short- and long-term goals for population health management (PHM).
Built on Health Catalyst’s foundational technology and supported by the nationwide experience and perspective of its experts, the Population Health Foundations solution helps organizations leverage multiple data sources to understand their patient populations and create meaningful views of financial and clinical quality performance. As a starter set that organizations can build on based on their needs, the solution is designed to compensate for the known limitations of “black box” population health applications that fail to reveal the “why” of analytic insights and exacerbate the challenges of transforming quality, cost, and care. The Population Health Foundations solution delivers the essential analytic tools needed for success under value-based risk arrangements.
In these slides you can expect to:
- Review recent changes to the field of value-based care, and reactions and insights from the market
- Discover how the Population Health Foundations solution can act as a comprehensive, data-first analytics solution to support your population stratification and monitoring needs
- Understand how this solution functions as a foundational starter set for value-based care success, enabling clients to leverage all their data and other relevant population health tools
5 Things to Know About the Clinical Analytics Data Management Challenge - Ext...Michael Dykstra
5 Things to Know About the Clinical Analytics Data Management Challenge - Extracting Real Benefit From Your EHR Data
The EHR revolution has created immense promise for improved patient outcomes and reduced costs but most healthcare organizations are struggling to experience significant benefits. The power of Applied Clinical Analytics lies in a simple but powerful concept: the importance of focusing on the accuracy and availability of the underlying data, first and foremost.
Asian Hospital & Healthcare Management, the leading magazine in the healthcare industry empowers people providing the latest healthcare related issues, articles. Our latest issue provides the required information helpful to build healthier tomorrow. Check our Digital Magazine: https://goo.gl/4KfGjt
Data-driven Healthcare for ManufacturersLindaWatson19
Medical Device Equipment and Hospital Supplies Manufacturers also face increased pressure to comply with strict regulatory procedures to ensure patient safety. Product transparency and efficient end-to-end processes that optimize the manufacturing process and decision making are very important.
Data-Driven Healthcare for Manufacturers Amit Mishra
Data-driven healthcare empowers the providers with a common data platform to discover untapped data-driven opportunities. Healthcare data and its impact on the patient care decision process via accurate, real-time, reliable data from disparate sources is creating a digital health revolution. Physician groups, nursing facilities, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, clinical researchers, and medical equipment manufacturers are all churning out vast amounts of data during their daily operations. This data has tremendous value and can revolutionize patient care, diagnosis, real-time decisions and help deliver new, unimagined innovations with quality of patient care. Know more about data-driven healthcare at https://www.solix.com/solutions/data-driven-solutions/healthcare/
2016 IBM Interconnect - medical devices transformationElizabeth Koumpan
Emerging technologies such as Internet of Things, 3D Printing are driving the creation of new business models and forcing the Industry for transformation. The product centric model where the Industry main objective was to develop the device, is moving to software and services model, with the focus on Big Data & Analytics, Integration and Cloud.
The maturation of technologies such as social, mobile, analytics, cloud, 3D printing, bio- and nanotechnology are rapidly shifting the competitive landscape. These emerging technologies create an environment that is connected and open, simple and intelligent, fast and scalable. Organizations must embrace disruptive technologies to drive innovation
While these hospitals are evolving as world-class care providers, not many of them are able to evolve as profitable and sustainable businesses. This can be prevented so that the investors and the managers of the hospital are able to build a sustainable industry while continuing to offer affordable care as well as run a sustainable business. This is not a hypothetical situation– it is indeed possible to be successful on both the counts if appropriate monitoring and management of the hospital’s KPI’s and KRA’s are conducted rigorously.
Unlocking Technology Opportunities in Value-Based Healthcare | Parimal Shah |...UCICove
About UCI Applied Innovation:
UCI Applied Innovation is a dynamic, innovative central platform for the UCI campus, entrepreneurs, inventors, the business community and investors to collaborate and move UCI research from lab to market.
About the Cove @ UCI:
To accelerate collaboration by better connecting innovation partners in Orange County, UCI Applied Innovation created the Cove, a physical, state-of-the-art hub for entrepreneurs to gather and navigate the resources available both on and off campus. The Cove is headquarters for UCI Applied Innovation, as well as houses several ecosystem partners including incubators, accelerators, angel investors, venture capitalists, mentors and legal experts.
Follow us on social media:
Facebook: @UCICove
Twitter: @UCICove
Instagram: @UCICove
LinkedIn: @UCIAppliedInnovation
For more information:
cove@uci.edu
http://innovation.uci.edu/
Healthcare by Any Other Name - Centricity Business WhitepaperGE Healthcare - IT
Whether referred to as integrated healthcare or accountable care, the
current focus on new healthcare models is a reaction to long-standing
concerns around quality, cost, and efficiency. Many of these issues stem
from care delivery systems that have been:
• Directed more at episodic treatment than prevention and early intervention
• Fragmented rather than integrated and coordinated
• Focused on patient eligibility and billing rather than patient engagement
within and outside of the care setting
• Customized to the idiosyncrasies of individual facilities rather than
standardized across care sites
• Rewarded more for volume than for quality and cost outcomes
The resulting inefficiencies have made healthcare less effective, less safe,
and more costly than can be tolerated, particularly against the backdrop of
a challenging worldwide economy. The old dictum ‘if you provide healthcare,
they will pay’ no longer applies. Public payers, private payers, and regulatory
agencies are wielding both carrots and sticks to drive healthcare organizations
toward greater coordination, demonstrable quality, and measurable
cost control.
The consensus on what ails our health systems, as well as the availability
of new technologies, has led to the creation of new models of delivery,
such accountable care organizations and integrated health organizations.
By whatever name, these healthcare models are designed to promote
accountability and improve outcomes for the health of a defined population.
Similar to ExecutiveInsight July 2014 - Supply Chain cover story (20)
4. 4 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
Features
Clinical, Peer-Reviewed
28 Gearing Up for the Flu Season
What hospital executives need to know to keep staff safe
By Steven Russell, MD
31 6 Questions to Ask a Medical Home
If your practice is considering adopting this model or in transition,
critical issues must be addressed
By Margaret E. O’Kane
34 Lab Business in an ACO Environment
A growth strategy to capture more clinical laboratory work and
execute with greater efficiency is revealed
By Megan Schmidt and David J. Molusis
36 Surviving Value-Based
Purchasing in Healthcare
Connect your clinical and financial data for the best ROI
By Bobbi Brown
16 CEO: An Optimized Supply Chain
Achieving true value requires day-to-day
accountability to process, patients
By Ed Hisscock
18 COO: An Automated Supply Chain
Process improvements for better materials
management are identified
By Paul Grenaldo and Paul Feicht
22 CFO: A Fiscally Sound Supply Chain
Use analytics to strategically cut costs
By David Whitaker, Ken Hopkins and David Janothan
24 CIO: A Collaborative Supply Chain
Integrating systems for enterprise
management is key
By Ed Hardin
12Cover Story
A Streamlined Supply Chain
Supply chain activities can be restructured to coordinate
all facets of vendor management
By Dennis Kikuno and Gary Johnson
CONTENTS EXECUTIVE INSIGHT I 2014 I JULY
28
6. 6 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
Check back daily for news updates, blog discussions and product information.
Copyright 2014 by
Merion Matters.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form is forbidden
without written permission of publisher. Executive Insight is
published monthly by Merion Matters, 2900 Horizon Drive,
King of Prussia, PA 19406-2651.
Postmaster: send address changes to: Executive Insight
Circulation Department, Merion Publications, Inc., 2900
Horizon Drive, Box 61556, King of Prussia, PA 19406-0956.
ExecutiveInsightdeliversinnovativestrategiesandsolutions
byandforhealthcareexecutivestohelpthemleadand
succeed.Thisnationalprintand24/7onlineresourceoffers
ourcommunityeducationalopportunities,informationon
cutting-edgeproductsandservices,multimedia,exclusivewe-
binarsandtraining,enablingtheseleaderstorespondquickly
toindustrychangesandtrends.ProducedbyMerionMatters,
aleadingpublisherinthehealthcareindustry,ExecutiveInsight
providesforward-thinkinganalysistohelpexecutivesaddress
dailyissuesandprepareforthechallengesahead.
Advertising Policy
All advertisements sent to Merion Matters for publication
must comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
Recruitment ads that discriminate against applicants
based on sex, age, race, religion, marital status or
any other protected class will not be accepted for
publication. The appearance of advertisements in
ADVANCE Newsmagazines is not an endorsement of the
advertiser or its products or services. Merion Matters does
not investigate the claims made by advertisers and is not
responsible for their claims.
Departments
Columns
n ASQ’s Eye on Quality
n CHIME’s Healthcare IT
n Dollars & Sense, sponsored
by Soyring Consulting
n Executive Perspectives for the
Continuum of Care, sponsored
by Status Solutions
n Next Level of Leadership
sponsored by Caliper
n Finance & Investment
n mHealth,
sponsored by ATT
n The Efficient Emergency
Department, sponsored
by Wellsoft Corp.
Blogs
n Politics of Healthcare
n Boardroom Buzz
Retail Model of Healthcare
Shifts in payment drive cost transparency
Standardization: A Growing Trend in Healthcare Security
Consolidating security providers delivers consistency and improved service
Stop Holding My Data Hostage!
Too often, doctors enter patient data into their systems only to never see it again
Radiopharmaceuticals in Development
It’s an exciting time in nuclear medicine with several new agents on the horizon
Online Content
www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
Features
CONTENTS continued EXECUTIVE INSIGHT I 2014 I JULY
7 Editorial
Supply Chain Strategies
9 Healthcare IT
Health Systems Integration via an
Enterprise Architecture Context
By Kelly Summers
Features
38 Inpatient Fall Prevention
A robust approach leads to significant
reduction of inpatient falls with injury
By Erin S. DuPree, MD
41 The Lab as a High
Reliability Organization
Embrace 5 key concepts and embed
them across your operations
By Sam C. Terese
41
7. www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I 7
C
onsider this: Health reform is driving
providers to seek savings in supply
and purchased services costs, which,
depending on the perspective, could influ-
ence as much as 50% of the total cost-of-
care budget.
Asthesecondlargestareaofexpensefor
hospitals, supply chain is the new frontier
for cost savings, but not in the traditional
sense of purchasing products from suppli-
ers at the lowest price.
In this issue of Executive Insight, we
present expert opinion, advice and strate-
gies designed to reveal:
An Optimized Supply Chain
Notes CEO Ed Hisscock: “There is a grow-
ing understanding that simply relying on
GPOs for better pricing is yesterday’s strat-
egy. Most health systems are at least start-
ing to look at variability of costs, utilization
and quality. Many are employing data ana-
lytics at the hospital, service line, unit and
clinician levels. Some are elevating the val-
ue analysis process, utilizing comparative
effectiveness research to ensure new prod-
ucts are really more cost effective.
“All of these strategies and many others
have begun to have an impact, but my in-
teractions with health systems tell me they
often aren’t enough to achieve true value
fromthesupplychain.Fullyoptimizingsup-
ply chain management across a health sys-
tem requires accountability to the work of
change and, mostly importantly, to the ulti-
mate end-user of services—our patients.”
A Fiscally Sound Supply Chain
“Cutting or controlling costs is a top
initiative for nearly every hospital CEO
and CFO,” write authors David Whitaker,
Ken Hopkins and David Janotha. “While
nearly all healthcare organizations will
continue to look for ways to cut cost of
care for years to come, agile organizations
will also look for ways to cut administra-
tive and operational costs. Performance
management solutions serve as a great
way to bring efficiency and reduce costs
associated with budgeting, planning, and
reporting, in addition to forecasting and
more strategic activities.”
An Automated Supply Chain
“Healthcare executives are now turning to
a greater area of potential savings – waste
within their supply chain processes and
business transactions, specifically those re-
lated to materials management,” reveal Paul
GrenaldoandPaulFeicht.“Whenonecom-
pares healthcare materials management
operations to those in other industries,
such as the retail and automotive sectors,
it is immediately apparent that healthcare’s
processes are generally immature and very
costly. Much of the cost and waste is direct-
ly attributed to lack of automation, visibility
and data accuracy throughout the procure-
to-pay process.”
Employing new strategies should
ultimately reveal a streamlined
supply chain—one that is struc-
tured to coordinate all facets of
vendor management.
is published by Merion Matters
Publishers of leading healthcare magazines since 1985
2900 Horizon Drive, Box 61556
King of Prussia, PA 19406-0956
(610) 278-1400 • www.advanceweb.com
EDITOR’S PHONE (800) 355-5627, ext. 1121
EDITOR’S E-MAIL lnace@advanceweb.com
FOR PRODUCT INFORMATION (800) 355-6504
TO ORDER REPRINTS (800) 355-5627, Ext. 1446
TO PLACE AN AD, OR TO CONTACT
THE EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT (800) 355-5627
EDITORIAL
PRESIDENT Ann Wiest Kielinski
GENERAL MANAGER W.M. “Woody” Kielinski
PUBLISHER Lynn Nace
Editorial
EDITOR Lynn Nace
MANAGING EDITOR Kerri Hatt
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rob Chakler
WEB DIRECTOR Jennifer Montone
Design
V.P., DIRECTOR OF
CREATIVE SERVICES Susan Basile
DESIGN DIRECTOR Walt Saylor
PRODUCTION MANAGER Chris Wofford
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Scott Frymoyer
Advertising
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING SERVICES Christina Allmer
MARKETING MANAGER Kate McNally
Corporate Communications
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
DIRECTOR Maria Senior
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
MANAGER Laura Smith
Administration
V.P., DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES Jaci Nicely
CIRCULATION MANAGER Maryann Kurkowski
BILLING MANAGER Christine Marvel
ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER Ruthanne George
MARKETING RESEARCH MANAGER Mike Connor
Media Marketing Opportunities
MEDIA OPERATIONS MANAGER Sofia Goller
Display Advertising
SALES MANAGER Todd Bula
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Hilary Druker
NATIONAL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Clark Celmayster,
Tom Neely
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jackie George
SALES ASSOCIATE Andrew Pfeifer
Education Opportunities
EDUCATION BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Lisa Hensiek
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Sarah Rucinski
Custom Promotions
SALES MANAGER Mike Kerr
MARKETING MANAGER John (J.R.) Ryan
ON THE WEB
We have more supply chain strategies to share online. Enter “Supply Chain” in the
keyword search box at www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight.
Supply Chain Strategies
Lynn Nace
Publisher
lnace@advanceweb.com
8. 8 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
JOSHUA ADLER, MD
CMO, UCSF Medical Center
San Francisco, CA
ALLEN BUTCHER
CFO,
Camden Clark Memorial Hospital
Parkersburg, WV
EDMUND E. COLLINS, MBA, CPHIMS
Vice President and CIO
Martin Memorial Health Systems
Stuart, FL
FRANK CORVINO
President and CEO
Greenwich Hospital
Greenwich, CT
SUSAN L. DAVIS, EDD, RN
President and CEO,
St. Vincent’s Medical Center/
St. Vincent’s Health Services
Bridgeport, CT
COLE EDMONSON, DNP, RN, FACHE, NEA-BC
Vice President,
Patient Care Services and CNO
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital
Dallas, TX
NEAL GANGULY, CHCIO, FHIMSS
Vice President and CIO
JFK Health System
Edison, NJ
JOHNNY KUO
COO, Gracie Square Hospital
New York, NY
ED MARX
Senior Vice President and CIO
Texas Health Resources
Arlington, TX
DAN MORISSETTE
CFO, Stanford Hospital Clinics
Palo Alto, CA
LYNNE MYERS
President and CEO,
Agrace HospiceCare
Madison, WI
LISA ROWEN, DNSC, RN, FAAN
CNO and Senior Vice President of Patient Care
Services,
University of Maryland Medical Center
Baltimore, MD
AMIR DAN RUBIN
President and CEO,
Stanford Hospitals and Clinics
Stanford, CA
SUE SCHADE, FCHIME, FHIMSS
CIO, University of
Michigan Hospitals
and Health Centers
Ann Arbor, MI
CHRISTINE SCHUSTER, MBA, RN
President and CEO,
Emerson Health System
Concord, MA
NANCY TEMPLIN, CPA
CFO, All Children’s Hospital,
St. Petersburg, FL
DEBORAH ZASTOCKI,
EDM, DNP, CNAA, NEA-BC, FACHE
President and CEO,
Chilton Memorial Hospital
Pompton Plains, NJ
INDUSTRY ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
ADVERTISER INDEX
Log on to www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
Support the companies that support your profession.
The companies listed below support healthcare leaders by placing advertisements in Executive
Insight. Their support keeps our publication coming to you free of charge. Please contact these
advertisers or visit their Websites to learn more about their products or services.
ADVERTISER WEBSITE PG #
ROBERT CHAMBERLAIN
Chairman and CEO
Applied Health Analytics, LLC
Nashville, TN
https://appliedhealth.net/
CASEY CRAM, MA
Director of Marketing,
Talyst
Bellevue, WA
www.talyst.com
NANCY M. FALLS
National Managing Partner
Healthcare
Managing Partner Nashville
Tatum
Brentwood, TN
www.TatumLLC.com
AMY JEFFS
Chief Operating Officer,
Status Solutions
Charlottesville, VA
www.statussolutions.com
KEN PEREZ
Senior Vice President
of Marketing and Director
of Healthcare Policy
MedeAnalytics
Emeryville, CA
www.medeanalytics.com
CHRISTINE RICCI, RN, BSN, MBA
Chief Marketing Officer,
B. E. Smith, Inc.
Lenexa, KS
www.besmith.com
Abbott Diagnostics www.abbott.com 44
ADVANCE Healthcare Network www.advanceweb.com/General/Subscriptions.com.aspx 25
ADVANCE Healthcare Network www.advancecustompromotions.com 11
ADVANCE Healthcare Network www.advanceweb.com 21
Aesynt www.aesynt.com 15
Applied Health Analytics www.appliedhealth.net 3
AvaSure www.avasure.com 39
GOJO Industries www.gojo.com 43
InterSystems Corporation www.InterSystems.com 2
Navicure www.navicure.com 29
NDD Medical Technologies www.nddmed.com 5
Perceptive Software www.perceptivesoftware.com 27
Stryker Sustainability Solutions www.sustainability.stryker.com 19
Sunquest Information System www.sunquestinfo.com 33
MAQUET Medical Systems
Special Pull-Out Section
www.maquet-hybridoperatingroom.com Insert 1-8
9. www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I 9
Although relatively new to
the provider side of healthcare,
I have been actively engaged in
life sciences for over 20 years
leading information technology
organizations within the med-
ical device and pharmaceutical
industries. The most significant
difference I have witnessed is
the lack of a formalization of
good IT practices across all
technology domains.
Over the last five years or so,
the hospital and care delivery
industry has been thrust into a
much more sophisticated tech-
nology landscape. With the fed-
eral mandates and incentives
offered by the ONC with Mean-
ingful Use dollars, many of our
colleagues aggressively pursued
sophisticated EMR, patient/bed management
and technically complex bio-med solutions.
Thisrushfortechnologydeploymentsinmany
cases has not considered the aging and antiquat-
ed existing hospital infrastructure. Without a
comprehensive enterprise wide architecture and
engineering function, organizations are set up
for disappointment in their solutions.
The biggest challenge this industry faces is en-
gineering without an end state in mind. If one
applies that premise to an EMR selection process
and ultimate deployment, is one looking out 1-3
years asking:
n What information is required?
n How will this EMR ultimately integrate with
other technologies?
n What is the level of systems interoperability
required?
To illustrate the issue of a lack of architecture
and engineering rigor, consider the evolution of
the Winchester House, an analogy for failed sys-
tem implementations. The Winchester Mystery
House is a building that began construction in
1884. Under the owner’s day-to-day guidance,
its “from-the-ground-up” construction proceed-
ed around the clock, without interruption, until
her death on Sept. 5, 1922, at which time work
immediately ceased.
This is the house that has stairways to no-
where; there are doors that are too small or lead
Healthcare IT is sponsored by
the College of Health Informa-
tion Management Executives
(CHIME). Contact CHIME at www.
cio-chime.comKelly Summers, CHCIO, is CIO, Maricopa Integrated Health System in Phoenix, Ariz.
HEALTHCARE IT
By Kelly Summers
Health Systems Integration via an
Enterprise Architecture Context
Architecture
Domains
Breadth
Business
Data
Application
Technology
Capability
Vision
Arch
Definition
Capability
Vision
Arch
Definition
Capability
Vision
Arch
Definition
Capability
Vision
Arch
Definition
Enterprise Vision and Architecture Definition
Enterprise-Level
Initiatives
Level
Segment Vision
Architecture Definition
Segment Level
Initiatives
FIG. 1 - ARCHITECTURE INTEGRATION
Thebiggestchallengethis
industryfacesisengineering
withoutanendstateinmind.
10. 10 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
method for managing require-
ments; and guidelines on tools
for architecture development.
If you continue to apply these
principles against an integration
landscape, that vision looks like
that shown in Fig. 1.
Within the Maricopa Inte-
grated Health System, we’re
applying formalized practices
to accelerate our integration
capabilities in the areas of:
n Connectivity and Adapters
n Transformation
n Orchestration (routing/flow)
n Data Quality (validation)
n Metadata Management
n Messaging Warehouse
n Security (authentication,
authorization, integrity,
availability)
n Quality of Service
n Manage File Transfer
n Master Data Management
n Infrastructure consolidation
with the ultimate objective of
accelerating our Integration
Maturity Curve (Fig. 2).
In support of these objectives, we’ve devel-
oped IT architectural and engineering guiding
principles, including technology life cycle man-
agement forecasts. Simplification of a complex
environment is a priority.
We must begin to employ proven IT indus-
try architecture, engineering, and integration
techniques that heretofore may not have been
utilized within the majority of the healthcare
industry space. The overall costs of implemen-
tations, the imperative need for high ROIs, and
most importantly the “mission critical” nature
of these systems and their impact on the future
of improving patient care and increasing oper-
ational efficiencies make the use of these tech-
niques absolutely mandatory in the future of
healthcare IT.
nowhere and windows that look into other parts
of the house. How many of us can apply this
analogy to an ERP or EMR project?
To contain and prevent such obvious disasters
from occurring, we must educate and inform
our constituents that IT has an obligation to en-
sure that the solution being deployed will meet
the needs of enterprise. This is accomplished via
formalized IT practices, specifically IT architec-
ture, engineering, software development life cy-
cles (SDLCs) and ITIL (Information Technology
Infrastructure Library) techniques.
The application of established frameworks
has been used successfully in other industries.
The TOGAF®1
(The Open Group Architecture
Framework) Architecture Development Meth-
od or (ADM) offers a great method to align the
various architecture components, ensuring
a robust and enduring solution. It is one ap-
proach to develop an enterprise architecture. It
is designed to address an enterprise’s business
and IT needs by providing a set of architecture
views (business, data, application, and tech-
nology); a set of recommended deliverables; a
ON THE WEB
Be sure to review all of our Healthcare IT
columns at www.advanceweb.com/execu-
tiveinsight.
HEALTHCARE IT
Wemustbeginto
employprovenIT
industryarchitec-
ture,engineering,
andintegration
techniquesthat
heretoforemay
nothavebeen
utilizedwithinthe
majorityofthe
healthcareindus-
tryspace.
MaturityLevel
5
4
3
2
1
Run-Time
Applications
Data
Integration
eBusiness
Integration
eBusiness
Services
Enterprise
Application
Process
Workflows
ConnectivityAdapter
Transformation
DataQuality
MetadataManagement
Orchestration
MessagingWarehouse
ManageFileTransfer
InfrastructureConsolidation
Security
QoS
MasterDataManagement
Integration Capability
FIG. 2 - INTEGRATION MATURITY CURVE
11. EMPLOYEE UNIFORMS • COMMUNITY EVENTS • BRANDING
•WORKPLACEESSENTIALS•VOLUNTEERAPPAREL•RECOGNITIONGIFTS
•RECOGNITIONGIFTS•VOLUNTEERAPPAREL•WORKPLACEESSENTIALS
BRANDING • COMMUNITY EVENTS • EMPLOYEE UNIFORMS •
1-877-776-6680
advancecustompromotions.com
Awesome Apparel
for Any Occasion
Shop apparel at advancecustompromotions.com
or call 877-776-6680 to speak with a consultant.
Custom logowear for your staff events
Nothing builds brand like apparel. Add your logo or facility
name to scrubs, lab coats, tees, polos, jackets, hats and
more. Our experienced consultants can help you find the
perfect product to meet your needs at a price you like.
Choose from
trusted brands:
• New Balance
• Cherokee
• Adidas
• Dickies
• Champion
• and more!
•
12. 12 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
H
aving just learned about the final HIPAA Om-
nibus Rule, the compliance team at Torrance
Memorial Medical Center (Torrance Memori-
al) was looking for ways to achieve business associate
(BA) compliance by the September 2013 and 2014
milestone dates. The new rule expanded the defini-
tion of a BA and mandated that hospitals provide
oversight and retain signed business associate agree-
ments (BAAs) for every vendor that creates, receives,
maintains, or transmits protected health information
on the providers’ behalf.
The compliance team immediately recognized the
magnitude. Those hospitals that fail to comply
COVER STORY
13.
14. 14 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
with the Omnibus Rule could face significant
civil and criminal penalties if audited by the U.S.
Department of Health Human Services Of-
fice for Civil Rights (OCR). Furthermore, OCR
announced that provider audits would begin as
early as fall of 2013, with a mere 20-day window
for hospitals to respond. Although the OCR
audits did not occur in 2013 and were resched-
uled to commence in fall 2014, the urgency and
importance of preparing the organization to be
in compliance to the new requirements and to
keep their patients’ health information secure re-
mained a great priority.
Complying with the expanded BA require-
ment in the Omnibus Rule is a formidable un-
dertaking for any hospital, including Torrance
Memorial, a 400-bed independent hospital in
the Los Angeles area. The three-person com-
pliance team quickly realized that part of the
COVER STORY
Anenterprise-wideapproachtocollectingand
storingvendordataprovidesabestpracticeinen-
suringsmallteamscanstreamlinemultiplesupply
chainprocessestoaccomplishmultipletasks.
challenge at Torrance Memorial, as with many
other hospitals, was the sheer amount of work
to be completed by the small team to successful-
ly identify and classify vendors as BA vendors.
TAKING STEPS TO STREAMLINE
For the Torrance Memorial compliance team,
the first step toward BA compliance was to
supplement the team by adding a partner with
technology and the knowledge to do the unusu-
al one-time work and build the ongoing process
and workflows for a scaled up compliance man-
agement process. The work included reformat-
ting their AP vendor file for compliance pur-
poses. This required vetting all current vendors
using in-depth knowledge of BA definitions and
completing initial evaluations of all vendors for
BA risk. The vendors were then categorized into
three groups: definitely not BAs, potential BAs,
or need more information.
Torrance Memorial had a BAA on file for
many of its known BA vendors; however, an ad-
ditional 700 of the hospital’s vendors were iden-
tified as having BA characteristics per the Omni-
bus Rule, and therefore required further review
by Torrance Memorial. Those vendors were sent
a survey to confirm their BA status. The sur-
veying and the task of managing responses was
handled by their partner, allowing the hospital’s
compliance team to focus on the key work of de-
termining BA status and manage the work with
speed and scale.
Torrance Memorial’s goal was nothing less than
to have 100 percent compliance by the September
2014 deadline set by HHS to fully comply with the
updated Omnibus Rule. Yet the compliance team
didnotstopthere.TheyalsoworkedwiththeirBA
partner and their IT department to add a vendor
portaltothehospital’swebsite,sothatallnewven-
dors would be registered and the company infor-
mation captured and screened for OIG and state
sanctions, diversity status, and BA risk. Existing
vendors would be registered in the same way.
The vendor portal also ensured that all new
vendors could be quickly on-boarded with a
minimum amount of effort from the compli-
ance and supply chain departments. The entire
process takes place online through a dedicated
application and includes the ability to check for
vendor exclusions. If the vendor confirms the BA
status as part of the registration, then a signed
BAA is requested as per the Omnibus Rule.
Lastly, Torrance Memorial adopted a contract
15. www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I 15
COVER STORY
LEADERS
SEE THE
BIG PICTURE
Leaders know to take one step
at a time. They’re also able to
visualize the whole journey.
At Aesynt, we lead hand-in-hand with
our customers. Our game-changing
pharmacy automation and medication
supply chain management solutions
are helping health systems improve
outcomes, build stronger businesses
and manage change in an evolving
healthcare environment.
Start your journey now with Aesynt.
Visit www.aesynt.com.
management solution to ensure vendor
contracts were stored in a central reposi-
tory and were accessible and visible to the
compliance team. Previously vendor con-
tracts were archived in multiple locations
and departments, which made it difficult
for the compliance team to review con-
tracts to determine if they were current
and that terms and conditions were imple-
mented per the contract.
This enterprise-wide approach to col-
lecting and storing vendor data provides
a best practice in ensuring small teams can
streamline multiple supply chain process-
es to accomplish multiple tasks.
REAPING THE BENEFITS
With a compliance staff of only three, it is
notsurprisingthatoneofthemainbenefits
of automating Torrance Memorial’s BA,
contracting and on-boarding processes is
that the team is now free to concentrate on
other mission-critical tasks, including re-
imbursement initiatives. In addition, Tor-
rance Memorial has realized several other
benefits related to risk management.
First, because the compliance team has
vetted and identified BA status across the
entire vendor population, it is assured
that every BA vendor has a current BAA
on file while they simultaneously pursue
non-compliant vendors.
Second, the team feels confident all
guidelines for BA compliance have been
met, so it is prepared for any future audits
of its compliance status.
The final HIPAA Omnibus Rule is
viewed by many as a way to hold health-
care organizations accountable for their
vendors’ actions in regard to protected
health information. As such, BA non-com-
pliance holds consequences for hospitals
ranging from hefty fines to possible crimi-
nal prosecution, and of course sizable pub-
lic image problems should a HIPAA data
breach occur. Although compliance with
the expanded HIPAA data security and BA
vendor requirements is a challenge for any
hospital, Torrance Memorial illustrates
how a proactive and centralized vendor
management strategy can achieve regula-
tory compliance, streamline work process-
es and do it with speed and scale.
ON THE WEB
Want to learn 3 keys to unlocking true value in vendor contracts?
Read “Supply Chain Strategies” at www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight.
16. SCOTTFRYMOYER
A
ll across the country, health reform is
driving providers to seek savings in sup-
ply and purchased services costs, which,
depending on the perspective, influence 20-50%
of the total cost-of-care budget. There is a grow-
ing understanding that simply relying on GPOs
for better pricing is yesterday’s strategy. Most
healthsystemsareatleaststartingtolookatvari-
ability of costs, utilization and quality. Many are
employing data analytics at the hospital, service
line, unit and clinician levels. Some are elevating
the value analysis process, utilizing comparative
effectiveness research to ensure new products
are really more cost effective.
16 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
Ed Hisscock is the
co-founder and CEO of
Optimé Supply Chain, Inc.
CEO PERSPECTIVE
AnOptimized
SupplyChain
Achieving true value requires day-to-
day accountability to process, patients
By Ed Hisscock
PROCESS RIGOR
All of these strategies and many oth-
ers have begun to have an impact,
but my interactions with health sys-
tems tell me they often aren’t enough
to achieve true value from the supply
chain. Fully optimizing supply chain man-
agement across a health system requires ac-
countability to the work of change and, mostly
importantly,totheultimateend-userofservices—
our patients. This is really an issue of what I call
process rigor – the day-to-day follow-through
with the systems we employ to ensure we achieve
efficiencies across a system of care.
For example, we spend tens of millions of
dollars on information technology, but barely
scratch the surface of its potential. Many infor-
mation systems don’t communicate with one
another; an integrated delivery network may
have multiple patient records systems. Materials
management information systems are not linked
to financial systems. Contract management of-
ten involves paper records housed in a dozen
different file cabinets and desk drawers. Inven-
tory expires unused due to lack of visibility to the
product dating, which often times exists in the
17. www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I 17
were quickly documented and the machine was
purchased.
The supply chain leader was stunned. What he
did not know was that for several months Carla’s
family had been taking turns driving their grand-
mothertoherbonescanappointmentatahospital
60 miles away. The challenge changed Carla’s re-
lationship — not to a fictional patient, but to her
own grandmother. That relationship having been
established, the resulting benefits to the organiza-
tionwereswiftandlasting,aswasthewayinwhich
Carla framed her work. She no longer viewed her
job as transactional. She was serving the commu-
nity of patients who received care at “her” IDN.
THE END GOAL
The healthcare supply chain differs from every
other supply chain in one fundamental way: It
is not always centered on relevance for the cus-
tomer, the patient. And if this isn’t corrected, we
will not come through reform unscathed. It can’t
just be about cost savings; we have to see our
end goal as safer, higher quality and, yes, more
cost-effective care.
We strive, for example, to increase electron-
ic transactions (efficiency), but ignore taxono-
my standards that make the supply chain safer
for the customer. We motivate improvements
in systems and technology so we can purchase
more products at a faster rate (effectiveness), but
we can’t determine if medical devices have been
recalled.
I like this quote from Vince Lombardi: “The
only place success comes before work is in the
dictionary.” Accountability to the patient and to
process rigor requires the right systems, hard
work and personal commitment.
In a reformed health system, supply chain
can no longer just be about products and
price. Like all other departments, it needs to
bust out of its silo and become a strategic lead-
er of the much-needed transformation to val-
ue-based care.
product bar code.
Rigor requires leadership. My company built a
strategic sourcing workflow application for Hen-
ry Ford Health System in Detroit that enabled
better oversight of project status and savings.
In addition to allowing the health system a full
view of the entire contract cycle, the solution
facilitates individual accountability for savings.
Naturally, we think it is a great app, but it took a
strong leader in James O’Connor, Henry Ford’s
vice president of Supply Chain Management,
to drive its highest use within the organization.
Henry Ford achieves over 4% savings in annual
supply and purchased services spending and a
15:1 return per labor dollar spent.
We’ve sold the same application to others and,
sadly, several are collecting dust. Maybe this was
good for us from a profit perspective, but wrong
in terms of a health system’s accountability to
stakeholders and patients.
ATTITUDE, PERFORMANCE
Process rigor extends down to the individual,
often with spectacular results. I once observed
a supply chain staffer named Carla, who was an
18-year employee for an IDN in the Midwest.
While Carla performed her task in a workwom-
an-like fashion, she was not truly engaged with
the organization’s mission. In an effort to boost
her performance, her supply chain leader chal-
lenged her to deliver enough documented sav-
ings so the organization could purchase a bone
densitometry unit, which at the moment was
outside of the budget for that fiscal year. After
being given the challenge, Carla’s work ethic and
focus changed drastically, the necessary savings
Inareformedhealthsystem,supplychaincannolongerjustbeaboutprod-
uctsandprice.Itneedstobustoutofitssiloandbecomeastrategicleaderofthe
much-neededtransformationtovalue-basedcare.
ON THE WEB
More information on optimizing the medication supply chain to reduce costs
can be found at www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight. Search “Perpetual
Inventory Strategies Take Center Stage.”
18. 18 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
on patient experience and care.
As the second largest area of ex-
pense for hospitals, supply chain is
the new frontier for cost savings, but
not in the traditional sense of pur-
chasing products from suppliers at the
lowest price. There is only limited savings
that can be achieved through this strategy.
Healthcare executives are now turning to a
greater area of potential savings – waste within
their supply chain processes and business trans-
actions, specifically those related to materials
management.
When one compares healthcare materials
management operations to those in other indus-
tries, such as the retail and automotive sectors,
it is immediately apparent that healthcare’s pro-
cesses are generally immature and very costly.
Much of the cost and waste is directly attributed
to lack of automation, visibility and data accura-
cy throughout the procure-to-pay process.
PROCESS AUTOMATION
The gold standard in healthcare materials man-
agement is to achieve the so-called “perfect
order,” which describes when a purchase
SCOTTFRYMOYER
AnAutomated
SupplyChain
Process improvements for better
materials management are identified
By Paul Grenaldo and Paul Feicht
Paul Grenaldo is COO, Doc-
tors Community Hospital.
Paul Feicht is senior vice
president, Customer Opera-
tions, GHX.
COO PERSPECTIVE
W
ith the signing of the Patient Protec-
tion and Affordable Care Act, hospital
and healthcare system executives face
the reality of reduced reimbursements, and, as
a result, are trying to find ways to deliver high
quality patient care in a more efficient, cost-ef-
fective manner.
A healthcare organization’s largest expense is
its people. Labor costs consume, on average, 50%
of revenue. For years healthcare executives have
found ways to bring down the expense of labor,
from consolidation of practices to streamlining
processes, but there is only so much trimming
that can be done before it has a negative impact
20. 20 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
order (PO) is processed electronically (from
order to payment) without human intervention
and without errors on the first attempt. But the
perfect order has remained elusive for most
healthcare organizations because many still rely
on manual processes, such as manual data entry
and orders placed with suppliers via phone, fax
oremail.Inturn,providerswithmanualprocess-
es cannot receive electronic, automated trans-
actions from their suppliers, such as purchase
order acknowledgements (POAs), backorder
notifications and invoices.
A fully automated, electronic procure-to-pay
process enables a healthcare organization to
achieve hard and soft dollar savings by stream-
liningprocesses,minimizingorderdiscrepancies
and invoice exceptions, and the rework required
to address them. It also facilitates timely supplier
payments to capitalize on early pay discounts,
and increases accuracy to ensure the right prod-
ucts are purchased at the right times at the right
prices. Consider that the processing costs for an
order sent electronically costs 70-80% less than a
manual order.1
Recognizing the value of automation, the
materials management team at Doctors Com-
munity Hospital, a 219-bed facility located in
Lanham, Maryland, partnered with GHX to
increase the number of suppliers with which it
transacts electronic POs by 123% (from 43 to 96
suppliers) from Q2 2012 to Q1 2014. During that
same time period, the organization significantly
improved invoice automation as well, increasing
the number of suppliers with which it transacts
electronic invoices by 388% (from eight to 39
suppliers).
INCREASING VISIBILITY,
CONTROL OVER CONTRACTS
Healthcare organizations work hard to negoti-
ate contracts with their suppliers but many do
not have the capability to ensure they are paying
the negotiated product pricing during the pro-
cure-to-pay process. One major issue is that ma-
terials management teams cannot keep up with
the ongoing and frequent changes to contract
data in the healthcare marketplace. Each GPO
is estimated to make as many as 30,000 changes
to contract data each month, with larger GPOs
making more than 1 million changes to con-
tract data each year. It is virtually impossible for
a healthcare organization to manually keep up
with this high volume of data churn.
Furthermore, when contract price discrepan-
cies occur during the procure-to-pay process,
such as a misalignment between the product
price in a PO versus an invoice, most organiza-
tions must still manually research and reconcile
the correct contract price, searching through
contracts stored as electronic documents or pa-
per files, or visiting their GPO or supplier web-
sites in an attempt to confirm a price.
Doctors Community Hospital has auto-
mated its contract management process using
a GHX solution that enables it to store all of
its contracts (both GPO and local) in a single
electronic repository. The solution performs a
three-way price match between the PO, POA
and contract price at the time an order is placed
to help ensure the right product is purchased at
the right price.
In just two months, Doctors Community
Hospital achieved close to $100,000 in hard-dol-
lar savings by ensuring it was paying the negoti-
ated price for items on contract. Furthermore,
becausethematerialsmanagementteamhasvis-
ibility into all of its contracts in a central location,
the team spends less time manually researching
contract status and price information. This time
has been reallocated to value-added activities,
such as evaluating contracts for tier discounts,
rebates and other savings opportunities.
DRIVING DATA ACCURACY
Automation in processing transactions and in
managingcontractsdrivesdataaccuracybymin-
imizing the risks associated with manual data
entry and rework. This facilitates an efficient,
cost-effective procure-to-pay process and offers
healthcare organizations timely and reliable data
on which to base their business decisions.
A significant benefit of transaction and con-
tract management automation is that it provides
healthcare organizations the ability to quickly
identify and address data errors and issues, then
correct them within their systems to prevent
future discrepancies. Research has shown that
when an organization’s processes are highly au-
tomated, efficiencies are optimized and data is
accurate, it can reclaim up to 12% of its supply
chain costs.
Having clean and accurate data within the
COO PERSPECTIVE
As the second
largest area of
expense for hos-
pitals, supply
chain is the new
frontier for cost
savings, but not
in the tradition-
al sense of pur-
chasing products
from suppliers at
the lowest price.
ON THE WEB
Healthcare is a dynamic
arena of rising costs,
high-tech advancement,
medical breakthroughs
and evolving public
policy. Learn how bank
partnerships can opti-
mize cash flow and land
top physicians by read-
ing, “Creating Business
Partners With Rising
Healthcare Costs” at
www.advanceweb.com/
executiveinsight.
21. www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I 21
materials management information system (MMIS) has far-reach-
ing consequences throughout an organization beyond the supply
chain. When product data contains the correct descriptions and
information, such as size and unit of measure, a hospital can better
manage its inventory and ensure clinicians have the products they
need when they need them.
Initiatives including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s
(FDA) Unique Device Identification (UDI) rule will further en-
hance the accuracy of product data within the healthcare supply
chain. The final UDI rule, published on Sept. 24, 2013, requires
medical device manufacturers selling products in the U.S. to assign
and label their products with a unique device identifier (UDI) and
provide additional data on those products to a Global UDI data-
base (GUDID).
If healthcare organizations adopt the use of UDIs within their
internal systems and processes, and in their interactions with
business partners, this initiative has the potential to improve the
quality of patient care by better facilitating adverse event report-
ing and recall management and enhance operational performance
by enabling accurate product identification in materials manage-
ment, inventory management, finance, patient billing and other
business functions.
STRATEGIC VALUE
Materials management is an area that can have a significant im-
pact on an organization’s operations and bottom line. Materials
management can also have a positive influence on patient care by
improving the timeliness and accuracy of product procurement so
that clinicians have what they need to best care for their patients.
While healthcare still lags behind other industries when it
comes to supply chain processes, organizations such as Doctors
Community Hospital understand the strategic value of materi-
als management and are reaping the benefits of automation, data
accuracy and visibility. As healthcare organizations face cuts in
reimbursement, they have no choice but to turn their attention to
driving out costs and waste—and materials management is one of
the last great frontiers for savings.
Reference
Industry average savings calculated from weighted averages for 120 hospitals.
ARE YOU KEEPING UP
TO DATE ON ICD-10?
Executive Insight and 3M have
teamed up to bring you the latest
ICD-10 updates in one convenient
location. Check out our online
resource center now to find:
■ News bulletins
■ Multimedia
■ Webinars
■ White papers
■ And more
Check back regularly because we’ll
be adding new features leading all
the way up to October 1 and beyond.
The ICD-10 Resource Center has
everything you need to stay informed.
BROUGHT TO
YOU BY
S t r a t e g i e s a n d S o l u t i o n s f o r H e a l t h c a r e L e a d e r s
Visit www.advanceweb.com/ExecutiveInsightICD10
22. of other services including primary
care, physician offices, psychiatric
units and rehabilitation units. In re-
sponse to the CEO and CFO’s cost
cutting initiative, our organization’s
finance team stepped up to the chal-
lenge to help reduce costs across the
organization. At the time, the finance
team was relying on a legacy process of
cumbersome stand-alone spreadsheets for
budgeting and planning that wasn’t meeting
its needs. The process was laborious for budget
contributors and finance alike and sometimes
lacked the accuracy required. The finance team
addressed the issue by spear-heading a project to
re-design the budgeting and planning process to
improve both efficiency and effectiveness.
Finance’s response was to procure a fully-in-
tegrated budgeting, reporting and analytics
platform to streamline budgeting processes and
improve response times to financial and opera-
tional inquiries. Norman Regional Health Sys-
tem partnered with Axiom EPM in early 2011 to
implement strategies, technology and improved
processes in an effort to cut costs by accomplish-
ing three objectives:
n Streamline budgeting process and reduce time
spent by budget contributors
n Reduce costs associated with budgeting
22 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
David Whitaker, FACHE,
is president and CEO,
Norman Regional Health
System.
Ken Hopkins is CFO,
Norman Regional Health
System.
David Janotha is industry
vice president, Healthcare
Axiom EPM.
C
utting or controlling costs is a top initiative
for nearly every hospital CEO and CFO.
However, while the majority of the health-
care industry chatter in the last couple of years
has centered on cutting the cost of care, little
discussion has taken place with regard to cutting
administrative and operational costs not asso-
ciated with the delivery of care. As the impact
of 2010 healthcare reform legislation was be-
coming clear, Norman Regional Health System’s
executive leadership launched an initiative to
optimize financial performance by strategically
cutting organizational costs not associated with
delivery of care.
Based in south central Oklahoma, Norman
Regional Health System has multiple acute care
facilities with 500+ beds, in addition to a range
CFO PERSPECTIVE
AFiscallySound
SupplyChain
Use analytics to strategically cut costs
By David Whitaker, Ken Hopkins and David Janotha
SCOTTFRYMOYER
23. www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I 23
penses within minutes, reducing time required
to maintain and update detailed schedules. In
addition to budgeting and reporting, Norman
Regional has leveraged the tool to get a better
understanding of costs and profitability within
key service lines. This has proven beneficial to
the organization in identifying and tracking ar-
eas that need further attention.
Like most healthcare organizations, the fi-
nance team supports departments across the
organization by providing data for decision
making. In addition to the weekly and monthly
reports they routinely prepare on a scheduled
basis, they respond to ad hoc inquiries relat-
ed to financial and operational issues. With its
previous solution, they manually consolidated
data in spreadsheets and created reports from
scratch each time. Moving to a true performance
management system eliminated all of the man-
ual effort. Ongoing reports are set-up once by
the finance team, then automated. For ad hoc
requests, the finance team can easily import and
consolidate multiple data sources into a single
repository and create custom reports right in
the platform within minutes. These closed-loop
management reporting capabilities have elimi-
nated the manual processes of integrating data,
report writing and report distribution, saving
hundredsofhoursandleavingfinancemoretime
to focus on analysis to support decision making
and leveraging opportunities for improvement.
CLOUD SOLUTION REDUCES
IT AND CAPITAL COSTS
Choosing to deploy the performance manage-
ment system on the cloud eliminated IT over-
head costs associated with maintaining and up-
grading hardware and software needed to run
the solution.
While nearly all healthcare organizations will
continue to look for ways to cut cost of care for
years to come, agile organizations will also look
for ways to cut administrative and operation-
al costs. Performance management solutions
serve as a great way to bring efficiency and re-
duce costs associated with budgeting, planning,
and reporting, in addition to forecasting and
more strategic activities.
n Improve response times to financial and oper-
ational inquiries that may identify other cost
savings
These objectives were achieved by imple-
menting improved budgeting and planning pro-
cesses that leverage performance management
solutions. To truly streamline the budgeting and
planning process and reduce associated costs,
the organization understood that they needed
the proper tools to support the new process to
minimize time from budget contributors outside
of finance. They also needed to establish work-
flow and approvals through the finance team to
maintain control of the process and maximize
analytical efforts.
EFFICIENCY DRIVES TIME
AND COST SAVINGS
Under the new process, the finance team estab-
lishes the workflow process, budget contributors
are notified, then they simply populate a work-
sheet for their area of budget responsibility. Upon
submittal, that information is automatically saved,
business logic is applied systematically and each
department’s budget is consolidated with other
budget contributor’s information. In the past, the
finance team had to manually audit and consoli-
date each budget submission so this new process
has improved accuracy and reduced the labor
hours from both budget contributors and the fi-
nanceteam.Sinceimplementingthenewsoftware
and new processes, we’ve reduced the time spent
contributing to and preparing budgets by 20%.
New capabilities also resulted in time savings
and improved accuracy in some specific areas.
We now budget for revenue by payor class so
contractualestimatestakelesstimeandaremore
accurate. Additionally, they can easily create de-
tailed comparison reports for all revenue and ex-
Performancemanagementsolutionsserveasa
greatwaytobringefficiencyandreducecostsas-
sociatedwithbudgeting,planning,andreporting,in
additiontoforecastingandmorestrategicactivities.
ON THE WEB
Additional revenue-gen-
erating, cost-cutting tips
can be found within our
white papers section at
http://healthcare-execu-
tive-insight.advanceweb.
com/resourcecenter/
whitepapers.aspx
24. 24 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
dation in the industry. The interfaces
needed to successfully integrate dis-
parate systems are out there but can
be both time-consuming and costly
to implement. Even organizations
with a single, integrated system have
their challenges when it comes to in-
formation management. While the EMR
system at Christus Health does integrate
financial management capabilities, it is a very
basic system with limited supply chain capabili-
ties. But that is perhaps the strength of the sys-
tem—its simplicity. Extracting data, at least the
data that is collected, is relatively easy.
COST, QUALITY AND OUTCOMES
For Christus, there have been two concurrent
approaches that have made an impact on main-
taining a strong supply chain. First, estimating
the total cost of ownership of key supplies, par-
ticularly equipment, has been an evolving skill
of our professionals. While we still have a ways
to go before we have captured all the variables of
the equation, our thought leadership in conjunc-
tionwithhowweusedatahaspositioneduswell.
Second, remaining rabidly clinically centric
and highly collaborative with our suppliers has
served to create a unique environment. Our cli-
nicians know that Supply Chain Management is
there to manage the knowledge and the process
W
hiletheincorporationofintegratedsys-
tems has had a positive impact on the
provider community, the information
provided by these technologies has been largely
clinical. In the current financial and operational
climate, organizations that can most readily uti-
lize data derived from their systems and are able
to share that information between stakeholders
will stay one step ahead of the curve. Collabora-
tion and communication across the board not
only allow the staff to remain as efficient as possi-
ble, but entire healthcare systems as well.
Truth be told, the impact of the electronic
medical record (EMR) systems on the supply
chain have been relatively limited to date, espe-
cially between facilities with different systems,
which is commonly the case due to the consoli-
ACollaborative
SupplyChain
Integrating systems for enterprise
management is key By Ed Hardin
SCOTTFRYMOYER
CIO PERSPECTIVE
Ed Hardin is system vice
president, supply chain
management at Christus
Health.
25. E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I 25
to ensure clinicians make fact-based decisions about the quality,
outcomes and efficacy of product utilization. Perhaps more impor-
tantly, our clinicians know that ultimately the decisions are theirs
to make and that they will be held accountable for making them. In
turn, we work with our suppliers to ensure they can articulate the
clinical value and differentiators of their products. Our suppliers
know that they can no longer say their products are the best, they
have to prove it and we assist in this effort by creating opportu-
nities to pilot their products. At the end of the day, our clinicians
have what they need to make the right clinical decisions and they
do so with information that Supply Chain Management has gar-
nered through collaboration with its vendor community.
SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
To that end, the second approach as it relates to collaboration with
our suppliers is not built simply on being polite and easy to work
with, but from establishing infrastructures that force a productive,
open and honest relationship. My organization uses the opinions
of our staff along with the information provided by our systems to
supporthowwedeterminethegoodbusinesspartnersfromthebad.
Specifically, one very visible way in which we have disrupted the
industry is with the formation of our Partner Advisory Council,
which has served to elevate the most strategic and collaborative of
our vendor relationships in such a way that we are able to do more
with less. That is, we view our best suppliers as extensions of our
supplychainteam.Assuch,ourbusinessrelationshipwiththese25
or so members is best described as a partnership, thus the name-
sake for the Council. Most importantly, members of the Coun-
cil are determined through a vendor segmentation and balanced
score card approach—both of which strongly rely on our ability to
extract data from our systems. We rely on our data to help support
a meritocracy within our vendor community and ultimately lead
to positive changes in their performance and mutual expectations
but, in some unfortunate instances, our data can also inform us of
which vendors we need to counsel or remove entirely from doing
business with us.
Remaining rabidly clinically centric and
highly collaborative with our suppliers has
served to create a unique environment.
ON THE WEB
For related content, enter “Supply Chain Management” in the
keyword search box at www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight.
STOPSTOP
S t r a t e g i e s a n d S o l u t i o n s f o r H e a l t h c a r e L e a d e r s
› Stay informed with the latest industry news.
› Get invaluable career advice.
› Track the latest healthcare trends.
Your FREE subscription also gives you access
to our e-newsletters, events, networking
opportunities and much more.
Don’t fall behind in the workplace.
CREATE YOUR FREE ACCOUNT TODAY!
VISIT: advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
BECOME AN
EXECUTIVE
INSIDER
TODAY!
26. VNA Solutions: Learn
More About the Next
Evolution of Imaging
An interview with Chris Tomlinson, MBA, CRA, and Jon Hamdorf
F
or healthcare organizations aiming to improve how they
manage, access and store clinical content and images, a ven-
dor-neutral archive (VNA) is a cost-effective and efficient way
to do so. For some organizations, this transition could prove to be
daunting, especially in the goal to preserve data and bring eco-
nomic and clinical value to the organization. Studies show that
the adoption of VNAs will continue to grow during the next three
years. In fact, IHS Medical Enterprise Data Storage has been mea-
suring VNA growth since 2011, and a recent report estimates that
VNA sales will continue to increase more than 200% by 2017.
One health system that made the decision to move to a VNA
is The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and the move
has proved successful. As an early adopter of this technology, the
hospital embarked on this process in 2009—starting with their
radiology department. They are now in the process of deploying
the VNA in other departments, most recently in cardiology. In this
QA, Chris Tomlinson, senior director of radiology and executive
director of Radiology Associates at CHOP and Jon Hamdorf, di-
rector of global VNA solutions at Perceptive Software, discuss the
ultimate benefits of a move to implementing a VNA.
Q:
PRIOR TO IMPLEMENTATION, WHAT WERE
SOME OF THE OBSTACLES CHOP FACED
WITH THEIR DATA?
Chris Tomlinson (CT): There were many information silos that
existed within the clinical areas, and we were not able to leverage
patient data longitudinally. All patient images were individual and
separate—i.e., cardiology, non-radiology, ultrasounds, etc.
Q:
FROM PERSPECTIVE SOFTWARE’S VIEW-
POINT, WHAT WERE CHOP’S MAIN CLINICAL
OBSTACLES?
Jon Hamdorf (JH): CHOP had silos of storage in different depart-
ments that were underutilized, as Chris mentioned. Everyone was
buying their own storage, and there was only about a 20% utili-
zation rate across each department. With a potential move to a
VNA, the hospital would be able to store everything under the in-
formation systems (IS) department and would be able to purchase
storage in increments for the entire organization instead of making
multiple purchases—allowing for better negotiations, contracts
and optimized business plans.
Q:
SINCE THE MOVE IN 2009 WITH RADIOLOGY,
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE CLINICAL AND ECO-
NOMIC BENEFITS?
CT: Economically, within a five-year period since 2009, we were
able to save $2.8 million just in radiology. Additionally, the clinical
benefits—the ability to leverage content—have been a huge value.
And it is not only for the areas producing the images, but for the
clinicians using the images and the IS department managing the
infrastructure. Now all these stakeholders can go to one enterprise
view to see patient images across the continuum of care regard-
less of where the images were acquired. You also have one place to
store data and link to the electronic medical records. For CHOP,
the VNA provides a unique way for clinical areas and IS to partner
to create a win-win situation.
Q:
WERE THERE ANY INTERNAL CHALLENGES
PRIOR TO AND FOLLOWING IMPLEMENTA-
TION, AND HOW WERE THESE ADDRESSED?
CT:You have to have buy-in from the IS department and from all the
clinicalareas.Youalsoneedtohaveoracquirethetechnicalresources
tobeabletoadministerasystemthatcrossesmanyclinicaldisciplines.
Following implementation, I think it makes sense to form a solid
infrastructure and governance model to help staff deal with chal-
lenges that may arise. At CHOP, I co-founded, along with one of
the directors in IS, an enterprise imaging governance committee.
The committee’s purpose is to make sure the big users of imaging
—those who consume and order it—are represented along with the
producers of images—areas such as radiology and cardiology. The
idea is to bring these groups together to ensure we stay with a single
governance model and to safeguard against new information silos.
The committee addresses issues that may impact the existing in-
frastructure. For instance, at CHOP, our content management sys-
tem and VNA initially did not include operating room video. This
is an example of new data types that the committee is able to make
universal decisions about and where and how the data is stored in
the system.
Q:
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE THE MAIN
DRIVING FORCES BEHIND THE SHIFT TO
VNA IMPLEMENTATIONS?
JH: Healthcare leaders have to grapple with clinical, operational,
and financial issues. The move to a VNA brings sustained benefits
to all three of these areas. A VNA allows the elimination of costly
storage silos and interfaces while enhancing imaging workflow and
archiving. Its ability to store and allow access to all images and oth-
er content at the point of need, directly from the EMR, increases
physician collaboration and enables improved care.
26 SPONSORED CONTENT BY PERCEPTIVE SOFTWARE
To learn more about Perceptive Acuo VNA,
visit www.perceptivesoftware.com/healthcare.
28. 28 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
nature of the illness, focusing on flu in the fall.
With the introduction of the avian flu pandem-
ic in 2009, though, providers and patients alike
learned what flu specialists had long known: In-
fluenza can occur throughout the year.1
Even as
spring heralds the traditional end of flu season,
the pre-season starts in summer. And it starts
with prevention.
PREVENTION
21st century researchers have an intimate un-
derstanding of the flu virus and, as such, have an
equally clear method of flu prevention. Gone are
the finger-crossing days of high-dose vitamins
and homeopathic remedies as our only immu-
nologic guardians at the gate.2,3
Modern-day vac-
cines offer multiple approaches for protection;
the data on their effectiveness in preventing in-
fluenza is robust. One only has to look back four
years to see the proof of prevention. Between
2010 and 2012, children immunized against the
flu reduced their risk of pediatric intensive care
admissions by 75% compared to their un-im-
munized classmates. Between 2011 and 2012,
investigators noted a 71% reduction in hospital-
izations among all adults immunized against the
flu. And in perhaps the most compelling data of
effective prevention, when pregnant patients re-
ceived the flu vaccine any time before delivery,
they reduced the chance of their infants being
hospitalized with the flu by 92%.4
In many ways, the seasonal flu vaccine is the
culmination of surveillance year-round. Each
year, the protective coat of antigens that sur-
rounds the influenza virus undergoes subtle
changes, allowing it to escape the notice of our
immune systems. Like a sports jersey redesigned
in the off season, the drift of antigens that coat
the flu virus can surprise the unsuspecting im-
mune system, even as the viral players wearing
that jersey are essentially the same. In contrast to
subtle drifts, tectonic shifts of antigens are akin
to the virus being traded to a new team, effec-
tively blindsiding the immune system in an un-
recognized jersey, thereby setting the stage for a
pandemic.5
By studying the trends of drifting vi-
ral “jerseys” across the globe each year, research-
ers anticipate which virus will reach our shores
during the flu season.
FLU STRAINS
At a minimum, the flu vaccines train our bod-
ies to recognize the colors of three separate
S
easonal flu does not discriminate. Like
any self-respecting infection, it preys on
humans least prepared to fight it off. But
unlike many vaccine-preventable illnesses im-
munized against in childhood, seasonal flu re-
quires constant vigilance, renewed each year.
Influenza is as likely to be found in a board room
as a boarding house. It will sneak through nurs-
eries and nursing homes with equal ease, leaving
an unmistakable path of cough, congestion, and
muscle aches that last a week or more. Healthy
hosts of the flu become homebound, waiting for
the fever to break. When influenza knocks on
the door of those with chronic illnesses, though,
the results can be devastating.
Many people tend to emphasize the seasonal
peer
reviewed
PR
INFLUENZA
GearingUp
fortheFluSeason
What hospital executives need to know to keep staff and
patients safe By Steven Russell, MD
Steven Russell, MD, is a
double board-certified (internal
medicine and pediatrics) lead
physician at UAB Moody Clinic,
and assistant professor at the
UAB School of Medicine.
JEFFREYLEESER
29. Collectmore.
Stress less.
We make it easy for growing health systems to thrive.
Drive more revenue with Navicure. Our worry-free billing and payment solutions are built
exclusively for physician practices, making it easier for expanding health systems to increase
efficiency and accelerate cash flow with every new acquisition they make.
Ready to learn more? Call us at 1-877-NAVICURE.
We’ll answer in three rings.
www.navicure.com
30. 30 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
strains of flu, two from team A and one from
team B. Some manufacturers have added recog-
nition of a second B strain to their vaccine, effec-
tively building antibodies to four types of flu in a
“quadrivalent” vaccine.
Whether offering protection against three
strains or four, the seasonal flu vaccine is pack-
aged in a variety of ways to meet the many needs
of our patients. Traditional methods of grow-
ing flu vaccines in egg cultures can rarely cause
problems with patients who experience severe
egg allergies, so some manufacturers offer egg-
free vaccines. Older adults may need a stronger
dose of antigen to boost their immune system, so
some manufacturers offer “high-dose” vaccines
for those over 65 years of age. Now the develop-
ment of a child-friendly vaccine masquerading
as a nasal spray offers equal protection for kids
and adults without having to endure the shot.
But as any sports enthusiast can attest, the
expectations of spring training are not always
realized in the post-season. Likewise during flu
season, the viral antigens we thought we would
see may not match up to the reality of circu-
lating strains. When that happens, a mismatch
can occur between the vaccine and the virus,
decreasing the effectiveness of our protection.
Indeed, even some who stood in line early to get
their vaccine can end up with the flu. For those
unlucky enough to get the vaccine and the flu,
the cases tend to be milder and end sooner than
if they had not been vaccinated at all. In certain
circumstances, when the risks are high and the
exposure is certain, a prescription for pills can
offer additional prevention as well.
THE SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVES
The search for other ways to prevent the flu
continues. Investigators around the globe have
studied various vitamin cocktails and herbal sup-
plements to boost the immune system and pre-
vent the flu. However, rigorous scrutiny of those
results remains disappointing.6
Vaccine prevent-
able illnesses are, in the end, best prevented by
vaccines. To be sure, the vaccine effectiveness is
not perfect. In a mid-season study of how well we
are doing at preventing the flu with current vac-
cines, the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention estimated the 2013-2014 vaccine was ef-
fective at preventing the flu 61% of the time.7
This
is not perfect, but not significantly different from
the vaccine effectiveness of previous flu seasons.
In our office, the biggest hurdle to acceptance
of the flu vaccine is the concern that it will cause
the flu itself. Nothing could be farther from the
truth. Just as one cannot get manhandled by a
mannequin wearing the visiting team’s uniform,
neither can the isolated viral antigens of the shot
cause illness. The minor symptoms one may ex-
perience after immunization is, in fact, a good
sign, revealing the symptoms of an immune sys-
tem preparing itself for a future viral onslaught.
Once that is understood, most patients are will-
ing to follow me down the road to improved
health through prevention.8,9
SPREAD PREVENTION
When influenza introduces itself to your hospi-
tal, as surely it will, prevention takes on a new
urgency. The flu vaccine is now recommended
for all of us, and prevention starts with encour-
aging everyone to get it. But for those already
diagnosed with the flu, prevention of spreading
it involves staying home for at least 24 hours af-
ter their fever resolves. Those remaining at work
should employ lessons learned in kindergarten:
Cover your cough. Wash your hands. Avoid rub-
bing your eye. Even these simple measures have
been time tested to slow the spread of illness.
Seasonal flu does not discriminate, but pa-
tients can. By planning for prevention now, we
can be prepared for the urgent debut of influenza
during its season.
References
1. Fineberg HV. Pandemic preparedness and response –
Lessons from the H1N1 Influenza of 2009. New Engl J Med.
2014;370:1335-42.
2. Rees JR, et al. Vitamin D3 supplementation and upper re-
spiratory tract infections in a randomized, controlled trial.
Clin Infect Dis 2013 Nov;57(10):1384-92.
3. Mathie RT, et al. Homeopathic oscillococcinum for pre-
ventingandtreatinginfluenzaandinfluenza-likeillness.Co-
chrane Database Sys Rev. 2012 Dec 12;12:CD001957.
4. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/vaccineeffect.htm (ac-
cessed June 2, 2014)
5.AmericanAcademyofPediatrics.RedBook29thEd.:2012
Report on the Committee of Infectious Disease. P 440.
6. Wong LY. A herbal formula for prevention of influen-
za-like syndrome: A double-blind randomized clincal trial.
Chin J Integr Med 2013. 19(4): 253-59.
7. Flannery B, et al. Interim estimates of 2013-2014 seasonal
influenza vaccine effectiveness – United States, February
2014. MMWR. 2014; 63 (07): 137-142.
8. Van der Wouden JC, et al. “Preventing Influenza: An
overview of systematic reviews.” Respiratory Medicine
2005:99,1341-1349.
9.CommitteeonInfectiousDiseases.Recommendationsfor
prevention and control of influenza in children, 2013-2014.
Pediatrics 2013;132:e1089.
INFLUENZA
ON THE WEB
For additional strategies
on keeping your staff and
patients safe, be sure to
review the archived webi-
nar, “Influenza: Nothing
to Sneeze At,” at www.
advanceweb.com/execu-
tiveinsight.
21stcentury
researchershave
anintimateun-
derstandingof
thefluvirusand,
assuch,have
anequallyclear
methodofflu
prevention.
31. www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I 31
I
fwefollowthegrowthtrendofmedicalhomes,
it would be easy to predict that in five years,
20% of this country’s group practices will have
adapted to the medical home model. After all,
10% of primary care practices are already NC-
QA-Recognized medical homes.1
But let’s be bold and go farther; let’s say that
in five years, half of practices will be medical
homes. Sound optimistic? Consider that Aetna,
Cigna, Wellpoint, Blues plans and other insur-
ers offer higher reimbursements to practices
that are organized as medical homes, as does
the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services.
What’s more, evidence confirming the value of
medical homes continues to pour in. At NCQA,
we are hard pressed to keep up with the flood of
applications to our medical home recognition
program.
This is good news. It means that more people
will enjoy same-day appointments, receive coor-
dinated care and be assured that automated sys-
tems are supporting their care teams, preventing
drug interactions and helping them avoid illness
altogether.
But as our healthcare system evolves, we must
remember that medical homes do not spring
into existence overnight. Recognition from a
reputable organization is a good sign that a med-
ical home is living up to its promise, but more
important is whether a practice can actually do
what is expected of a medical home. It’s a long
list. Here are a few issues NCQA’s PCMH Rec-
ognition Program reviews:
1.
DOES THE PRACTICE ENSURE THAT
CARE IS ALWAYS ACCESSIBLE?
Above all, a medical home is expected
to offer patient-centered care—help and advice
when a patient needs it. In today’s connected
world, that means the ability to exchange secure
electronic messages with a physician, check test
results online, get clinical advice over the phone
and access medical records electronically.
Access is a major quality issue; imagine the
difference between learning you have a serious
medical condition today, and learning it weeks
from now.
2.
DOES THE PRACTICE HAVE A
TEAM-BASED APPROACH TO
CARE THAT ENGAGES PATIENTS?
By definition, patient-centered care involves pa-
tients in the care process. Often, this requires
educating patients about self-care—in their own
language. A medical home is expected to do this
and to clearly define the role of every practi-
tioner involved in a patient’s care, hold progress
meetings with the patient and develop treatment
plans that fit the patient’s goals.
3.
DOES THE PRACTICE USE
TECHNOLOGY TO HELP
MANAGE PATIENTS’ HEALTH?
It is becoming hard to defend practicing med-
icine without electronic support. Computers can
do things people can’t, like track patients and
send reminders to those who are due for immu-
nizations or other needed care.
Medical homes track dozens of data points
about their patients and their health risks. They
use the data, along with evidence-based care
guidelines, to tell patients about needed care for
chronic conditions, immunizations and other
care.
MEDICAL HOMES
Margaret E. O’Kane is president
of the National Committee for
Quality Assurance (NCQA), an
independent, nonprofit organi-
zation that improves healthcare
quality through measurement,
transparency and accountability.
6QuestionstoAsk
aMedicalHome
If your practice is considering adopting this model or in
transition, critical issues must be addressed
By Margaret E. O’Kane
THINKSTOCK/WAVEBREAKMEDIA
32. 32 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
4.
DOES THE PRACTICE WORK TO
IDENTIFY AND SUPPORT HIGH-
RISK PATIENTS?
It is widely understood that most healthcare ser-
vices and expenses go to relatively few patients
with complex health issues. Medical homes are
expected to leverage data collected from diverse
sources such as payers, EHRs and enhanced
registries to identify those patients, and to work
with them to design suitable, evidence-based
treatment plans.
Because adherence to medication schedules
is a steep challenge for many patients, medical
homes are expected to use electronic prescrib-
ing. “E-prescribing” systems are critical for
managing medication interactions, tracking pre-
scriptions and notifying providers about generic
alternatives.
5.
CAN THE PRACTICE COORDINATE
CARE EFFECTIVELY WITH OTHER
ORGANIZATIONS AND PROVIDERS?
Patients with multiple serious health conditions
can have many providers involved in their care,
creating the potential for repeated tests, conflict-
ing treatment plans and poor health outcomes.
Medical homes maintain formal relation-
ships with other provider groups—labs, area
hospitals, behavioral healthcare practitioners
and so on—that make coordination possible.
For example, medical homes are expected to
monitor lab and imaging tests and inform pa-
tients and providers of the results. They are also
MEDICAL HOMES
‘Weareexcited
aboutthepromise
ofmedical
homestohelp
revitalizeAmerican
medicine.’
—MargaretE.O’Kane,
president,NCQA
ON THE WEB
Have you visited our ACO
Resource Center lately?
Check it out at www.
advanceweb.com/execu-
tiveinsightaco.
0
12/31/08 12/31/09 12/31/10 12/31/11 12/31/12 12/31/13 01/30/14
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Clinicians
Thousands
Sites
FIGURE - PCMH GROWTH GRAPH expected to track referrals and ensure smooth
care transitions.
6.
DOES THE PRACTICE
WORK TO IMPROVE?
The promise of the medical home is that
it will improve care, reduce waste and increase
patient satisfaction. Medical homes should mea-
sure their performance in all three areas, set
goals for improvement and design plans to reach
those goals. At NCQA, we see that even small
improvements add up to meaningful differences
over time.
NCQA’s standards related to medical homes
(168 factors across six broad areas) are rigorous
and comprehensive. It is important to apply the
standards as a holistic set, not as “a la carte” op-
tions. Ask yourself if you’d feel comfortable as a
patient in a practice that couldn’t coordinate your
care. What if it was difficult for you to access that
care? Would it be all right if the practice didn’t
remind you that you missed an important visit?
Would you want to see a doctor who didn’t un-
derstand how to use technology? Should anyone?
If the next five years unfold as I expect they
will,themedicalhomemodelwillcometodefine
how medicine is practiced in this country. And
we will all benefit as a result. Although we might
never hear a patient say, “Thank goodness I’m in
a medical home,” I think we will hear something
much more important:
n I’m getting great care…
n My doctor is really on top of things…
n It’s so easy being a patient there…
We are excited about the promise of med-
ical homes to help revitalize American med-
icine. There may be growing pains along the
way—many practices are only now considering
adopting the model, and others have just begun
the (lengthy) transition process. But as with any
effort to create something of lasting value, the
first few brush strokes are less interesting and
telling than the last are. The best, I believe, is yet
to come.
References
1.http://www.ncqa.org/Portals/0/Public%20Policy/2014%20
Comment%20Letters/The_Future_of_PCMH.pdf
NCQA-Recognized PCMH clinicians and sites by year:
See Excel file and line graph “PCMH Growth Graph 12-
31-13.xlx”
33. Sunquest provides
comprehensive solutions
that deliver quality diagnoses,
optimize efficiency, improve patient
safety, and respond to a changing market.
Laboratory data accounts for approximately 70%
of the patients’ medical records and affects up to 80%
of clinical decisions. Providers depend on reliable results
to deliver optimal care across their network.
With healthcare legislation and increasing regulatory
oversight, it is vital that your lab be a part of your clinical
team. With more than 30 years of experience, Sunquest
continues to be the chosen partner in over 1700
laboratories today.
Sunquest has redefined the lab, empowering its partners
to turn results into knowledge.
To learn more about solutions from Sunquest, call
(800) 748-0692 or visit www.sunquestinfo.com.
Sunquest is the
market leader
in Laboratory.
Path to the heart of healthcare
V I S I T U S AT A A C C , B O O T H # 4 4 3 1
34. 34 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
W
hile every hospital and network in the
U.S. doesn’t have to make their clinical
lab a separate entity, all administrators
needastrategytogrowtheiroutpatientbusiness.
It is critical to focus on outpatient, ambulatory,
and outreach to cover and exceed the fixed costs
required to support the shrinking, but critical,
inpatient work. It is imperative that hospitals
and healthcare-associated reference laboratories
reach into the community and capture more of
their ambulatory testing work and execute that
work with greater efficiency.
CLP’S GROWTH STRATEGY
Clinical Laboratory Partners (CLP) has been
extremely successful at doing just that. Their
growth strategy has been two-fold: Manage the
hospital and physician office labs and obtain
the work in and around their network through
strong sales and service.
CLP is a reference laboratory business that
was developed from a hospital outpatient lab-
oratory service and now recognizes $100 mil-
lion annual revenue by serving the 101 towns
across the state of Connecticut. CLP has about
60 full patient service centers. Incoming sam-
ples are processed at its six laboratories spread
throughout the state, with the majority of work
conducted at the core lab in Newington, CT, and
at their large Rocky Hill, CT, lab, which focuses
on women’s health to support 25 women’s health
practices in the state.
CLP’s roots are in the outpatient lab at Hart-
ford Hospital, formerly Hartford Medical Lab.
It grew and eventually formed into the entity it
is today when HHC (then Connecticut Health
System) bought Midstate Hospital in 1998. At
that time, three area laboratories came together
BUSINESS STRATEGIES
Megan Schmidt is director of
Product Strategy at Sunquest
Information Systems.
ADVANCE
LabBusinessinan
ACOEnvironment
A growth strategy to capture more clinical laboratory
work and execute with greater efficiency is revealed
By Megan Schmidt and David J. Molusis
David J. Molusis is vice
president and CIO at Clinical
Laboratory Partners.
to focus on providing the most local, compre-
hensive laboratory services possible.
To achieve the first part of its growth strategy,
CLP provides the system improved profitability
by streamlining the inpatient lab while directing
thebulkofworktotheCLPLabs.Therearechal-
lenges in this approach; these moves produce
anxiety in the hospital in regards to turnaround
times that impact the local hospital’s work and
budget. This can be overcome by leveraging ser-
vice level data and receiving support from hos-
pital administration to explain that revenue is
staying within the system to benefit the hospital,
rather than sending work outside the system.
To achieve and maintain strong sales and ser-
vices, the second part of its strategy, CLP lever-
ages their quality, local pathologists, lab-expe-
rienced sales and service personnel, and their
ability to accept all payers. CLP also uses infor-
mation technology to their advantage. They are
quick to market with EMR interface deploy-
35. www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I 35
laboratory must ensure efficient workflows are
in place to protect service levels and profitabil-
ity. To handle the required volumes with effi-
cient workflow, and to manage the routing and
tracking of specimens around the network, CLP
utilizes Sunquest as the primary LIS along with
some other ancillary systems in the core lab and
hospitals that manage the laboratory. Future
CLP strategies include initiatives to consolidate
labs and further centralize work at Centers of
Excellence associated to departments. For ex-
ample, the first initiative may be to centralize
microbiology.
The CLP story likely aligns to other networks
and ACOs that are pulling in their own work
and centralizing laboratory services. Executives
would be wise to ensure that their regional net-
work-affiliated laboratory is at the table in any
acquisition, consolidation, ACO formation, or
contracting regarding laboratory work. Hospital
inpatient labs do not always make a profit for the
inpatient work, and that work is declining, but by
securing more outpatient work from the com-
munity of providers in an area, more revenue is
kept within the system. This must be executed
with great client services and efficiency within
the laboratory.
ULTIMATE BENEFITS
Consolidating laboratory services to a local
provider ultimately benefits the system, physi-
cian, and patient. Keeping the testing in-house
supports the whole and helps the system with
their ACO goals. With longitudinal and con-
tinuous views of a patient’s lab results, physi-
cians can better manage test utilization and
expedite treatment, leading to better outcomes
for the patient.
ment, with 150 deployed to date. CLP further
differentiates themselves from others by offer-
ing a portal that provides Hartford Healthcare
physicians access to view both outpatient and
inpatient laboratory results across the healthcare
continuum. Through the portal, they can also
provide physicians with access to information
for specific patient populations and tools to an-
alyze that data.
The challenge—one that other systems will
face if adopting a similar strategy—is the neces-
sity to standardize test methodologies and refer-
ence ranges so the data is combinable. To over-
come this obstacle, leadership must be engaged.
CLPworkswiththebusinessexecutives,medical
staff,chiefofpathology,andmedicalchiefofstaff
to articulate the value of participating in this data
exchange.
ENSURING EFFICIENCY
Once expanded business has been achieved, a
BUSINESS STRATEGIES
ON THE WEB
Are you expanding your
team of qualified profes-
sionals? Check out our
job board often at www.
advancehealthcarejobs.
com.
Executives would be
wise to ensure that their
regional network-
affiliated laboratory is
atthetableinany
acquisition,consolidation,
ACOformation,or
contractingregarding
laboratorywork.
36. 36 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
A
t first glance, creating a
healthcare system that
focuses on lowering
costs seems counterintuitive
in an environment that re-
wards quality improvements.
But that’s the challenge today’s
healthcare finance executives
are faced with—lowering costs
while improving quality, and
combining the two to ensure a
thriving bottom line.
It’s a winnable challenge,
provided the healthcare system
approaches the task with a thor-
ough understanding of where it
stands relative to clinical quality
measures and the costs associ-
ated with delivering care.
For finance executives, the
need to account for clinical
quality to predict the financial
health of the organization is
a significant paradigm shift. In the traditional
fee-for-service reimbursement environment,
measuring volume was front and center for the
finance team—and it’s still a key part of the equa-
tion today. Generally, healthcare has adapted to
per-case payment methodology. But with pay-
ments also hinging upon quality, focusing solely
on old metrics won’t bring financial success, par-
ticularly not in a world of accountable care, qual-
ity measures, shared savings, and bundled pay-
ments. Today’s focus must shift to lowering the
costs associated with obtaining higher quality.
FINANCES AND CLINICAL PROCESSES
With the shift to value-based purchasing, the
U.S. healthcare system faces its most significant
transformation since the advent of managed care
in the 1980s. Health system financial executives
are in the thick of navigating the complexities
of this change, tasked with helping their orga-
nizations determine exactly how to strategically
approach the new reimbursement environment.
Questions financial executives
must address include:
n Do we want to create or participate in an
accountable care organization (ACO)?
n Are we prepared to manage partnerships? How
will we collaborate with payers?
n What level of risk should we assume?
Editor’s note: Achieving financial success in
healthcare can no longer be measured strictly
in terms of volume. Changes in the industry
are driving a need to bring quality and oth-
er measures into the equation. In Part 1 of
a three-part series, Bobbi Brown, a former
healthcare finance executive for some of the
nation’s largest health systems, explains the
challenges and risks that value-based care
brings, and the metrics finance executives
need to take into account when developing
new success measures. Part 2 will examine the
barriers to using clinical data (as it is normal-
ly found in healthcare organizations) to drive
value-based decision-making.
FIGURE/COURTESYBOBBIBROWN
Bobbi Brown is vice president of
Financial Engagement for Health
Catalyst, a data warehousing
and analytics company based in
Salt Lake City.
VALUE-BASED PURCHASING
FIGURE - HEALTHCARE’S NEW FINANCIAL METRICS
SurvivingValue-
BasedPurchasing
inHealthcare
Connect your clinical and financial data for the best ROI
By Bobbi Brown
Each of these metrics
carries potential penalties
and/or incentives under the
various payment innovation
programs sponsored by the
Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS).
Organizations that thrive in
a value-based environment
will routinely track these
measures as part of their
reporting and monitoring
structure rather than spon-
sor occasional studies of
their performance in these
areas.
37. www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I 37
Quality. With value-based purchasing, hos-
pitals are required to assess and report mea-
sures of quality relative to defined benchmarks.
Did patients receive drugs within the appro-
priate time period? Were they given discharge
instructions? Did the care manager schedule
follow-up visits? How many falls occurred in
the hospital? How many hospital-acquired in-
fections were there? Hospitals not reporting
quality metrics are subject to penalties. For
Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services
value-based purchasing, the penalty/incentive
phase began in 2013. Hospital performance is
being judged on both achievement relative to
the national benchmark and improvement rela-
tive to internal prior score.
Readmissions. Quality will also be assessed
based on the rates of readmissions for all causes
within a certain time period for specific patient
populations. For example, what are the rates of
heart failure, pneumonia and AMI readmissions
within a 30- and 90-day period? In 2013, Medi-
care began enforcing penalties for 30-day read-
missions. Penalties will increase in future years.
Mortality rates. What are the hospital’s mor-
tality rates for pneumonia, heart failure and
acute myocardial infarction (AMI) among its pa-
tient populations? Beginning in 2014, Medicare
will include this measure in its value-based pur-
chasing formula. High mortality rates in pneu-
monia, health failure and AMI will result in loss
of incentives.
Patient satisfaction. Patient satisfaction is
more than just a concern and a goal, it’s now
tied directly to payment models. How satisfied
are patients with their care experience? Was the
room satisfactory? Was the family comfortable?
Would they recommend the hospital? Concern
for patient satisfaction is a key metric in Medi-
care’s value-based payment system. In 2013 the
patient satisfaction scores were weighted at 30%.
Cost per episode of care. Containing costs is
now more important than ever as value-based
purchasing systems strive to keep treatment
consistent and expenditures appropriate and
predictable. What are the costs of the individ-
ual components of care? What are the costs
of the episode across the continuum of care?
Which clinical processes have the greatest cost
variation? Reducing this variation will improve
the cost structure. Plus, in 2015, CMS plans to
adopt a new measure—Medicare spending per
beneficiary.
n What is the ideal financial arrangement for
shared savings?
Additional considerations include the regu-
lations and quality metrics affecting a hospital’s
reimbursement—how many people go to the ER,
how are patients rating their satisfaction, how is
one hospital performing against others? While
each individual quality measure is a small thing
to track, the combination of quality measures
coupledwithaninfluxofnewregulationsheavily
impacts the bottom line. Add to this the fact that
quality measures can and likely will change over
time and that each payer has the right to associ-
ate different penalties and incentives with them,
and tracking develops into a very complicated
proposition.
Quality measurement is just one of the com-
plexities that value-based purchasing introduces
into the process of managing an organization’s
costs. Understanding how clinical quality and
other factors affect the bottom line requires fi-
nancial executives to master the new lexicon of
value-based purchasing, which pays and rewards
based on the quality of the outcome and the pa-
tient’s satisfaction. Volume metrics alone can’t
provide the insight needed for an organization
to succeed under health reform.
FINANCIAL METRICS FOR
VALUE-BASED PURCHASING
Within value-based purchasing are key metrics
(Figure) that go beyond volume that finance ex-
ecutives need to track to obtain a full picture of
a health system’s cost and to make sound deci-
sions, including:
Throughput. The time it takes to complete a
process now translates directly into money and
greatly affects quality. What is the average wait
time in the emergency department? What is the
time between cases in the OR? What is the turn-
around time for labs? With value-based purchas-
ing, improved throughput will benefit the orga-
nization by reducing cost and increasing patient
satisfaction – two key metrics.
VALUE-BASED PURCHASING
Understanding how clinical quality and other
factors affect the bottom line requires financial
executives to master the new lexicon of value-
basedpurchasing.
ON THE WEB
Under the Medicare
Shared Savings Program,
contracted providers are
paid standard Medicare
rates with the opportu-
nity to receive bonus
payments if quality
targets are met and if
total healthcare costs
for patients affiliated
with the ACO fall below
a stated benchmark.
This benchmark consists
of projected spending
based on the provider’s
past Medicare costs. The
lower the costs relative
to this benchmark, the
larger the bonus pay-
ment. However, some of
the shared savings are
retained by—or shared
with—Medicare. Learn
more about full risk
capitation by reading
“Taking, Managing Risk”
at www.advanceweb.
com/executiveinsight.
38. 38 I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight
A
n estimated 700,000-1 million patient
falls occur each year in U.S. hospitals.1-2
In November 2011, the Joint Commis-
sion Center for Transforming Healthcare set out
to address this widespread and persistent issue
and in collaboration with seven organizations
developed an approach to inpatient falls with
very encouraging results. A pilot study complet-
ed in August 2013 showed that the center’s new-
ly developed measurement systems and solu-
tions reduced the number of patients injured in
a fall by 62% and the number of patients falling
by 35%.
The results of the center’s Preventing Falls
with Injury project have a far-reaching impact
both for patients and healthcare organizations.
From 30-35% of patients who fall sustain an inju-
ry.3-7
On average, these injuries result in an addi-
tional 6.3 days in the hospital.8
If the center’s ap-
proach is translated to a typical 200-bed hospital,
the number of patients injured in a fall could be
reduced from 117 to 45, and save approximately
$1 million annually through fall prevention ef-
forts. Similarly, a 400-bed hospital could reduce
the number of patient falls with injury by 133
and expect to save $1.9 million annually.
The organizations that volunteered for the
center’s project to address fall prevention were:
n Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Missouri
n Baylor Health System, Texas
n Fairview Health Services, Minnesota
n Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center,
California
n Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, Texas
n Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, North
Carolina
n Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, New Hampshire
These seven participating hospitals range
from a 178-bed community hospital to a 1,700-
bed academic medical center. All of the orga-
nizations used Robust Process Improvement®
(RPI®) to identify causes and develop solutions to
prevent patient falls. RPI is a fact-based, system-
atic and data-driven problem-solving method-
ology that incorporates tools and concepts from
Lean Six Sigma and change management.
Sally Franz, director, Medical/Surgical/Crit-
ical Care Nursing at Kaiser Permanente San
Diego Medical Center, said partnering with the
center contributed to significant improvements
in patient safety.
InpatientFall
Prevention
A robust approach leads to significant reduction of
inpatient falls with injury By Erin S. DuPree, MD
SAFETY
JEFFREYLEESER
Erin S. DuPree, MD, is the
chief medical officer and
vice president for the Joint
Commission Center for
Transforming Healthcare.
39. www.advanceweb.com/executiveinsight I E X E C U T I V E I N S I G H T I 39
SAFETY
When it comes to reducing patient falls, find out what some
of our nation’s largest health systems already know – AvaSys
delivers on safety, efficiency and costs.
• In just one quarter, a rehab hospital in Michigan had an 81%
reduction in falls
• With only six mobile carts, a Wisconsin hospital reduced FTEs
by 3.57 in six months
• A teaching hospital in California reaped a 2,060% ROI in two
years
The TeleSitter SolutionTM
®
AvaSys®
makes it possible for a single observer
to watch as many as 15 patients at a time and
vocally intervene in time to prevent falls and other
dangerous behavior.
This sitter sees, speaks, is wireless, portable
... and never, ever takes a second off.
For sales or to request a webinar, call
800.736.1784, email info@avasure.com or
visit avasure.com.
“The experience provided a structured
framework around which to build our
work for preventing patient falls and pa-
tient falls with injury,” said Franz. “In ad-
dition, the sharing of strategies and best
practices with other organizations was
invaluable.”
In all, the participating hospitals and
the center developed a total of 21 targeted
solutions during the course of the project.
As solutions were developed, the hospitals
discovered that fall prevention was not a
setofdisparateandunrelatedactivities. In-
stead, preventing falls was a key strategy in
preventing or minimizing patient harm.
The examples in the Table are some of
the targeted solutions developed and thor-
oughly tested to address contributing fac-
tors around why patients fall.
According to Amy Fritz-Campiz, Black
Belt and Center project lead at the Joint
Commission Center for Transforming
Healthcare, “Addressing this prevalent
problem with effective targeted solutions
has motivated all levels of hospital staff to
focus on preventing inpatient falls – from
chief nurse officers to housekeepers to
those working in transportation services.
In addition, the signing of a patient agree-
ment form is a tool to encourage patients
and their family members to be part of the
solution, emphasizing the risk factors and
the proper procedures needed by all to
create an injury-free environment.”
The Targeted Solutions Tool® (TST®) for
preventing falls with injury is in develop-
ment for release in 2015. The TST is an on-
line resource that provides a step-by-step
process to assist organizations in measur-
ing performance, identifying barriers to
excellent performance, and implementing
the center’s proven solutions that are cus-
tomized to address specific barriers. TST
modules are now available for improving
hand hygiene, hand-off communications
and wrong site surgery.
Patient falls are a serious problem that
have received a great deal of attention, yet
defy easy solutions. In partnership with the
center,thesesevenorganizationsareleading
the way in developing strategies that keep
patients safer. By using these approaches to
determine the specific causes of falls
It’sestimatedthat30-35%ofpatientswhofallsustain
aninjury,andonaverage,thoseinjuriesresultinan
additional6.3daysinthehospital.
