Paths Toward Health Care Transformation

Redefine. Partner. Integrate. Experiment. Specialize. Many hospitals and care systems are embarking on one or more of these paths to transform health care delivery while providing high-quality, affordable care to patients. At Presbyterian Healthcare Services, based in Albuquerque, N.M., leaders and staff have worked to build an integrated care delivery model. Hospital at Home is one model that the health care system has implemented, to improve care and reduce hospitalizations for older patients with acute medical issues. The program provides treatment therapies and such medical services as lab tests, ECGs, ultrasound and X-rays at the patient's residence. From October 2008 through August 2013, 806 patients participated in the Hospital-at-Home program. As of July 2013, patient satisfaction scores from Hospital-at-Home patients were 97.9 percent. In addition, rates for readmission and mortality were lower for patients in the program in comparison to similar patients receiving inpatient care. Key to the program's success at Presbyterian is the integrated health plan, delivery system and medical group. This level of integration has allowed for interoperability of information systems and the ability to compare cost data across the system. Among Medicare Advantage and Medicaid patients with common acute care diagnoses, the Hospital-at-Home program achieved a 19 percent savings.

For more information, contact Melanie Van Amsterdam, MD, physician leader, at mvanamste@phs.org. Learn more by reading the new report from the 2013 AHA Committee on Research, Your Hospital's Path to the Second Curve: Integration and Transformation.