Optimizing Sepsis Care Improves Early Recognition and Outcomes

Early identification of sepsis is challenging, as the patient’s physical response to this overwhelming infection presents as a syndrome of non-specific symptoms, delaying recognition, diagnosis, and treatment, which increases mortality rates.
Mission Health, North Carolina’s sixth largest health system, had implemented evidence-based sepsis care bundles; however, processes for identifying patients with sepsis and initiation of care was fragmented and varied widely across the system, negatively impacting sepsis outcomes.
Using a comprehensive data-driven approach to facilitate early sepsis identification and standardize the treatment of sepsis, including the addition of evidence-based alerts, Mission has gained insight into sepsis performance to drive improvement. This approach has resulted in:

14.1 percent relative reduction in mortality for patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.
24.9 percent relative difference in mortality for patients that received the evidence-based protocols compared to those who did not—the evidence-based protocols substantially reduce mortality.
6.4 percent relative reduction in emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) for patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.
Four percent relative reduction in ICU LOS for patients with severe sepsis and septic shock admitted from the ED.

Collaborative, Data-Driven Approach Reduces Sepsis Mortality by 54 Percent

In the U.S., sepsis impacts more than 1.5 million people annually, of which about 250,000 will die. This accounts for one-third to one-half of all deaths for hospitalized patients. Health Quest focused on identifying ways to improve these outcomes. Despite instituting several evidence-based recommendations, the organization had not succeeded in reducing sepsis mortality to its desired rate.
Health Quest established a multidisciplinary sepsis committee to lead improvement efforts, including the use of analytics to combat sepsis mortality rates and improve patient outcomes, resulting in a:

54 percent relative reduction in sepsis mortality, saving 92 lives in 10 months.
57.1 percent relative reduction in catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) standardized infection ratio (SIR).
30.7 percent relative reduction in C. difficile SIR.

Using Analytics and Technology to Improve the ED Patient Experience

Substantial evidence indicates a correlation between a patient’s experience in a healthcare setting and adherence to medical advice, appropriate use of healthcare services, and clinical outcomes. Many organizations evaluate patient experience using Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) survey scores.
Mission Health’s patient experience survey scores in the emergency department (ED) were significantly lower than desired. Extended wait times negatively impact patient experience and perceptions of quality of care.
To improve the wait-time experience, Mission changed to a quick registration process, implemented patient notifications via text messaging, and began notifying patients of anticipated delays due to volume surges, thus better managing expectations. Text messaging also improved patient privacy, as did remodeling the waiting room to create a private registration area.
In just over a year, Mission’s ED achieved the highest patient experience ratings it had ever received:

Threefold improvement in patient ranking of:

Overall quality of care.
Provider communication.

29 percent relative reduction in time from discharge order to patient discharge.

Quick Registration Dramatically Reduces Delays in ED Patient Care

Patient registration is an essential step in the emergency department (ED) workflow—it is required to initiate EHR documentation and impacts patient safety. Correctly identifying patients during registration is critical, as caregivers use historical data in the EHR to make treatment decisions.
Mission Health, as part of its ongoing performance improvement work, discovered that its registration process was lengthy—patients were waiting in line for as long as 15 minutes to be checked into the ED to receive treatment.
To improve its registration process, Mission implemented a quick registration process (e.g., asking fewer questions upon patient presentation at the ED) based on frontline staff feedback that, in a little over one year, dramatically reduced delays in ED patient care:

70 percent relative reduction in the time to complete registration, with current performance under one minute.
33 percent relative improvement in time from patient arrival to triage start time.
24 percent relative reduction in median length of stay (LOS) for discharged patients, 15 percent relative reduction for admitted patients, and 42 percent relative reduction in median LOS for behavioral health patients.

Emergency Department Triage Redesign Dramatically Reduces Wait Times, LOS, and Left Without Being Seen Rates

Overcrowding in the emergency department (ED) has been associated with increased inpatient mortality, increased length of stay (LOS), and increased costs for admitted patients. ED wait times and left without being seen (LWBS) rates—patients who present to the ED but leave before receiving a medical evaluation—are indicators of overcrowding.
Mission Health needed to address overcrowding in its ED. The community hospital system confirmed overcrowding when it determined that approximately 4,000 patients were leaving its ED each year without being seen.
Mission implemented an improvement process to address ED overcrowding. The hospital leveraged its analytics platform to develop an ED analytics application that provided actionable, timely ED performance data to focus improvement efforts on four areas: staffing patterns, registration, triage assessment by the registered nurse (RN), and early access to a qualified medical provider.
Mission achieved significant ED performance improvements:

89 percent relative reduction in LWBS rate, with current performance at 0.4 percent.
85 percent relative reduction in percentage of patients who left before treatment complete, with current performance at 0.58 percent.
75 percent relative reduction in median door to assessment by a qualified provider, with current performance under 15 minutes.

A Data-Driven Systems Approach to Improving Emergency Care

Health systems can directly impact the quality of emergency department (ED) care by reducing the time patients wait between arrival and seeing a qualified medical professional. Long ED wait times can reduce patient satisfaction and put patients at risk.
Mission Health determined that patients in its ED often waited more than 50 minutes to receive qualified medical care. To decrease this wait time, the hospital system sought to improve its ED patient flow. Using data-driven insights provided by use of its analytics platform, Mission could visualize each portion of the ED patient flow, enabling the improvement team to identify and respond to opportunities for process improvement.
Using this strategy, Mission achieved the following:

89 percent relative reduction in the rate of patients who left without being seen (LWBS), resulting in the current performance of 0.4 percent.
29 percent relative reduction in the time from discharge order to ED departure time.
24 percent relative reduction in the median length of stay (LOS) for patients who are discharged.

Integrated Care Management—Improves Care and Population Health While Reducing Costs

One hundred thirty-three million Americans, 45 percent of the population, have at least one chronic disease. Chronic diseases are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths each year, killing more than 1.7 million Americans annually. Moreover, chronic disease accounts for 86 percent of our nation’s healthcare costs.
An integrated delivery system and an accountable care organization with two large academic medical centers and six community hospitals, Partners HealthCare is increasingly compensated for outcomes of care. Recognizing the need to more effectively manage its chronically ill patients, Partners implemented an integrated care management program (iCMP) to improve the outcomes of rising-risk patients and better manage treatment costs. The iCMP is a primary-care embedded, longitudinal care management program led by a nurse care manager working collaboratively with the primary care provider and care team.
The iCMP is contributing to Partners effective management of patients and financial success in at-risk contracts. In its Pilot Phase as a Medicare Demonstration Project, the program achieved the following results:

20 percent lower hospitalization rate per 1,000 patients.
13 percent lower rates of emergency department (ED) utilization.
25 percent relative difference in mortality.

Care Management: A Critical Component of Effective Population Health Management

Unprecedented changes in the healthcare payment system have resulted in health organizations across the country investing in the pursuit of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI’s) Triple Aim to improve population health, improve patient experience and outcomes, and reduce costs per capita. Health organizations must develop effective population health management strategies, and they need the right data and analytics to inform their initiatives.
Once armed with the information to make data-driven decisions, leading healthcare providers are implementing care management programs, which have proven to be helpful mechanisms for achieving the Triple Aim. Many healthcare organizations have identified specific patient cohorts to monitor the impact of care management interventions on individual and population health outcomes.
Data-driven care management programs that target high-risk and rising-risk patients can achieve impressive results, including:

Up to 20 percent lower rates of hospitalization in mature care management programs.
Lower rates of emergency department utilization.
Decreased costs.

Innovative Approach to Rehabilitation Care Improves Patient Outcomes

Disability is one of the United States’ most important public health issues—with approximately 15 percent of citizens affected. Allina Health created The Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute (CKRI) to help people with disabilities, injuries, or complex medical conditions achieve the highest possible degree of health, functionality, and quality of life.
CKRI’s advanced model for rehabilitation care focuses on the whole person, one that looks beyond the medical to address vocational, social, and emotional needs. This collaborative model enables comprehensive and seamless care across the continuum while preparing the organization to operate in a value-based, at-risk environment. CKRI also implemented an analytics infrastructure to help focus its resources appropriately and to measure success.
This innovative approach has optimized patients’ quality of life with up to 76 percent reduction in hospitalizations and 53 percent reduction in ED visits – resulting in annual community cost savings of $11.2 M.