In 2010, Scott Hawig, chief operating officer at Duke University Health System, and Jim Bohnsack, executive vice president of product development at Transunion Healthcare, decided to analyze the behavior, demographic and financial makeup of one hospital system’s patient population against service lines to determine how to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs at the same time.
During a breakout session on Tuesday at HFMA's annual national conference in Las Vegas, Hawig and Bohnsack shared how analytics data can be used to drive change with innovative community care programs, benefit activities and financial assistance programs all based on their study of Shands at the University of Florida, part of the University of Florida Academic Medical Center.
“We wanted to identify care delivery preferences in order to create community care models that address the medical and economic needs of our community,” said Bohnsack. “Are there different methodologies we could use that would be most cost effective? Would it be helpful to know these socioeconomic issues as well as the geography? That’s the basis behind why we did this.”
According to Hawig, Shands services 67 counties in Florida, including Gainsville and rural areas outside of Tallahassee and Jacksonville. Hawig and Bohnsack looked at the top 12 DRGs at Shands and how they could relate to the demographics, as well as how the quality and cost of care could be improved for those DRGs.
In addition, Hawig said they looked at the debt profiles and income levels of those living in the area.
“A lot of the times, income can determine what follow-up care people can receive. What are some challenges related to the financial burden for some people? Do they have the credit capacity?” he said. “How can we drive better outcomes for particular DRGs? Can knowing that information help us prospectively going forward for our case management functionality? Is there data here that says we need more case management? Are we understaffed in this area?”
Hawig said using this study, they were able to begin establishing community-based healthcare models and enhanced case management protocols based on past patient outcomes and experiences. They also began partnerships with local and state programs and federally-qualified health clinics to improve patient access for underserved populations.
“At the end of the day, this is about better outcomes,” he said.