We have talked a lot in recent months about the need to reign in healthcare costs in this country. Now, I want to help point out some examples of hospitals that are making progress at bending the cost curve. I think others may be able to gain insight from some of these examples. So we will do this periodically going forward on our blog.
Heartland Health in St. Joseph, MO, has a valuable story worth noting. A few years ago they honed in on their largest service line to patients: cardiovascular services. Heartland used patient data to analyze clinical performance and patient outcomes.
They wanted to understand more clearly how they were using resources in order to achieve change that would be sustainable. Heartland paired those results with special software for analyzing supply purchases to make sure they were standardizing where possible and getting the best prices. Their project has saved $5 million and, in the process, care for patients has been improved. For example, just with simple scheduling changes, doctors were able to reduce patient wait times by 50 percent.
Heartland has been able to open up conversations with their heart surgeons about standardizing supplies used and certain processes for care. By standardizing procedures and supplies, costs have significantly decreased.
A lot of organizations start to implement changes like these but then their efforts fade. But Heartland has kept an eye on the target and continued to move forward. With each change or adjustment, the first question always asked is how will this impact our patients?
After several years of hard work, patient care is better than ever.
We cannot shy away from streamlining hospital operations and finding ways to work more efficiently. This will be essential in order to sustain healthcare in this country.
Let us know what you are doing at your hospital to make a difference. We will share your story on our blog.
Ed Howe blogs regularly at Action for Better Healthcare.