Connecting Providers Statewide for Reduced ED Utilization
ED Optimization provides HIEs with data that enhances care coordination and efficiency for reduced ED utilization and better outcomes across the state.
Challenge
High utilization at EDs across the state, compounded by a lack of visibility into patient history or complete data at the point of care
Solution
ED Optimization empowers ED staff to deliver more efficient, informed and appropriate care with better visibility into patient history as well as actionable clinical and risk insights seamlessly delivered into their workflow
Outcome
10% year-over-year reduction in ED utilization statewide for patients visiting five or more times
Virginia Health Information
Health information exchange (HIE) for the Commonwealth of Virginia
445+ organizations 100k+ notifications monthly 4.3 million lives covered
Non-profit organization administering healthcare data across the state
The Challenge
Virginia Health Information (VHI) is a health information exchange (HIE) for the Commonwealth of Virginia established in 1993. Their mission is to improve Virginia’s healthcare by collecting, connecting, and reporting meaningful data. To do so, they are tasked with connecting providers across the state with relevant healthcare data.
As part of this, VHI is responsible for administering data for the Emergency Department Care Coordination (EDCC) Program, which aims to improve the quality of patient care services by connecting participating providers to each other electronically. They observed high utilization at emergency departments (EDs) across the state and realized there was an opportunity to improve gaps in data at the point of care, such as lack of patient history and limited visibility into ED visits at other hospitals.
The Solution
VHI chose PointClickCare’s ED Optimization solution to provide front-line clinicians with the patient history and information they need to make rapid, informed care decisions, resulting in an ED that is more efficient and effective, with seamless care coordination.
ED Optimization uses detailed insights to provide more complete patient histories at the point of care and generate alerts for patients with high utilization history in their ED or others on the network. With real-time data to enhance workflows and communication, it reduces unnecessary utilization and improves operational efficiency and financial outcomes.
VHI’s CEO, Kyle Russell, noted, “We have ACOs and ambulatory providers that want to use that data to work together for patients that they have in common. Knowing the patients you have in common between the populations that you serve and knowing what’s going on with their hospitalization history is huge.”
The Outcome
VHI implemented ED Optimization to achieve their goal within the EDCC Program of enhancing care coordination among providers. With this solution, VHI delivers real-time access to health information, enabling ED providers to make timely, informed clinical or care coordination decisions.
“Before this system was in place, emergency departments could only view patient visits in isolation, without access to a patient’s full care history, which was confidential and not available for public distribution,” Russell explained.
“Now, providers can see if a patient has visited the emergency department multiple times and understand the reasons for those visits. They can review the care the patient has already received, who their care team is, and what their provider recommends. This level of access, particularly for Virginia providers, marks a significant improvement over previous tools and greatly enhances their ability to coordinate care.”
As a result, Russell shared, “We’ve seen a consistent ten percent reduction in utilization for patients that were going to the ED five or more times. We’ve seen that year over year, in large part due to the program.”
Learn More
If you’re interested in implementing ED Optimization to help your organization achieve results like those experienced by VHI, contact our team for more details.