Eric Just, Vice President of Technology and Kathleen Merkley, Clinical Engagement Executive and Vice President at Health Catalyst, will demonstrate live several advanced applications built on a Late-Binding Catalyst data warehouse. Attendees will better understand how to:
Identify variability in care
Define accurate populations
Report on key health indicators across the continuum of care
Apply flexible models for risk stratification
Measure detailed process metrics spanning transitions of care for HF patients
Next generation health systems and Accountable Care Organizations will be paid based on an evolving model that rewards healthcare providers through ‘shared savings.’ Those savings must be achieved through systematic cost reductions while still improving quality of care. For most, this dual focus will prove to be the most critical and difficult part of realizing success.
Heart failure (HF) is one of the most rapidly increasing cardiovascular disorders in the United States. According to the 2012 update of Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, it is the leading cause of hospitalization in individuals over the age of 65. This age group currently encompasses over 13% of our population, and that number will rise to 20% in the next 7 years. Unfortunately, the elderly population is not the only group that has an increased incidence of HF. Due largely to the rise in obesity, the trends are increasing in all age groups, making HF the third leading cause of hospitalization for the total U.S. population. Primary hospitalization is not the only issue with HF as it is also the most common cause of hospital readmissions, with approximately 30% of patients readmitted to the hospital within 60-90 days of discharge from their index hospitalization, the hospitalization immediately prior to readmission. This statistic has prompted CMS to make HF one of the targets for new initiatives to reduce these numbers and cut Medicare costs.
Nearly 25% of patients re-hospitalized for HF are readmitted within one month. As a result of this data, CMS has labeled HF as one of its target areas of excessive readmission, along with acute myocardial infarction (MI) and pneumonia. CMS has instituted initiatives that include penalties to encourage hospitals to reduce these rates. In the fiscal year 2013, hospitals with the highest rates of readmissions will receive a 1% loss in Medicare payments, an amount that can equal millions of dollars. This rate will continue to increase, raising to 2% in 2014, and 3% in 2015.