With Curaspan, Indiana University Health Bloomington Cuts Readmissions, Prepares for ACO

Director of Case Management Kathryn Bennett, RN, had a significant objective for her department  at Indiana University Health Bloomington: Reduce preventable readmissions. And she chose  Curaspan Health Group to help her achieve that goal.

Using the company’s industry-leading Web-based  software-as-a-service (SaaS) application to streamline  patient transitions, Bennett’s  team cut preventable  readmissions by 5 percent in  one year. Bennett credits the  portfolio of 30 standard weekly  and monthly reports provided by  Curaspan as the catalyst for  that improvement.

Over a 12-month period, IU  Health Bloomington reduced readmissions from SNFs  by 5 percent, especially significant since SNFs make up  58 percent of discharge volume. Readmissions from  hospice were down 12 percent and readmissions from  home health with services were down 4 percent.

“The detailed readmissions reports provide important  insights that contribute to better outcomes,” says  Bennett. ”Data about readmission rates by post-acute  provider, for example, help us manage and improve these  important relationships.”

Reports Lay the Groundwork for an ACO.

Collaboration with post-acute providers to improve  clinical outcomes is an important step as IU Health  Bloomington works to create an ACO, a priority for the  facility’s senior leadership.

“It’s all about performance,” says Bennett. “We need  this data. We can’t go down the ACO path without it, and  that’s a big initiative for us.”

When Bennett first started reading the reports and  identifying trends linked to patient transitions, she knew she could target efforts to fine-tune coordination with  post-acutes to support the ACO initiative.

“The data helps ensure  we’re focused on the right  things, like holding our providers  accountable to our standard of  quality patient outcomes,” says  Bennett. “The reports are one of  the main reasons we went with  Curaspan. Of course we love the  software — it’s quick and easy to  use — but the back-end reports help us document trends  and give us the insight we need to make sure our postacutes are performing as we expect.”

Data Spurs Benchmarking, Dialogue, Change.

Especially important to Bennett was identifying which  post-acute providers receive a high volume of referrals  but have a low acceptance rate.

After reviewing the readmissions reports, Bennett  initiated meetings with several key post-acute providers to share their results against the blinded, aggregate data of  their competitors.

“Having the data was  powerful,” says Bennett. “They  could see their readmissions  data and how they were doing  against other post-acutes. This  created an open dialogue and  they said they would like to see  the reports on a regular basis. They know we give them  a lot of referrals. If they’re not  getting our patients, this hurts  their business. Having this information allows us to work  better with our post-acutes.”

Evidence, Not Intuition, For Better Outcomes.

Bennett adds that reports that show reasons for declines and delays, such as insurance denials, are  especially powerful in providing an understanding of  which post-acute providers impact  patient flow. That’s key for IU  Health Bloomington’s 350-bed  facility, which serves 10 counties  in south central Indiana.

“We’re carefully reviewing the  declines and percent of declines  by provider to identify trends we  need to address,” says Bennett.

“These reports allow me to see  so much detail about who’s taking  my referrals and why they’re not. Looking at acceptanceto-booking by payer reports and the ones with declineand-delay reasons provide a level of detail we need to  have. Why are my referrals being declined? The reports  give me this insight.”

Calculate Your ROI

By automating many of the manual, labor-intensive  processes involved with transitioning patients from one level  of care to another, Curaspan can help save a hospital  millions of dollars per year. See for yourself. Calculate the  numbers for your hospital, and get a detailed summary of  your potential savings.

Instantly generate a customized ROI report showing how  much your hospital will save with:

• Reduced LOS
• Increased productivity
• Less faxing
• Fewer readmissions

Learn more about how Curaspan Health Group builds secure patient-transition networks for hospitals, post-acute  providers and suppliers to optimize patient care. Call 800-446-9614, or e-mail Info@Curaspan.com.

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