health plans and hospitals: working together to prevent readmissions - a collaborative approach to...

Health Plans and Hospitals: Working Together to Prevent

Readmissions - A Collaborative Approach to Transition

ManagementJuly 30, 2013

Hosted by the RARE Operating Partners:

Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, Minnesota Hospital Association, Stratis Health

Our host today will be…

Kim McCoy, Project Manager – Stratis Health

Ms. McCoy provides leadership on health care quality initiatives throughout Minnesota. She supports development and implementation of Minnesota’s participation in the Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative, a national initiative to reduce adverse drug events.

Kim provides technical assistance to participating pharmacists and health care teams to successfully integrate medication therapy management and clinical pharmacy services into their organizations. She also provides leadership for the RARE Campaign to reduce hospital readmissions and community-based efforts to improve care transitions as part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Improvement Organization contract.

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July’s Conversation…

A Collaborative Approach to Transition

Management

Sharing their work:Ucare

More about the presenters…

•  Caroline Dietz-Carlson is a Quality Improvement Specialist at UCare. Caroline is a Registered Nurse (RN) with extensive clinical, program development, project management, and performance improvement background.

• She is a team member with the 2012 Collaborative Performance Improvement Project (PIP) for the Readmission topic: “Improving Transitions Post-hospitalization”, a partnership among four Minnesota health plans – Blue Plus, Medica, Metropolitan Health Plan, and UCare.

Caroline Dietz-Carlson, RN

More about the presenters…

• Lorraine Cummings is a Quality Improvement Specialist at UCare. Lorraine is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) with a background in health plan, managed care, clinic, and hospital settings and has project management experience in quality improvement, disease management, and health education.

• She is the project lead with the 2012 Collaborative Performance Improvement Project (PIP) for the Readmission topic: “Improving Transitions Post-hospitalization”, a partnership among four Minnesota health plans - Blue Plus, Medica, Metropolitan Health Plan, and UCare.

Lorraine Cummings, LPN

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A Collaborative Approach to Transition Management

Care Transition Management

Session Objectives:

• Understand the health plan care

coordinator’s role and responsibility with

transition support.

• Explore improved communication and

collaboration between hospitals and health

plans to provide effective transitions and

reduce avoidable readmissions. 8

2012 CMS QIP / 2013 DHS PIP: Improving Transitions Post-hospitalization

Goal:• To reduce hospital readmissions by improving

member support for the transition from hospital to home or a care setting for: Minnesota Senior Health Options (MSHO) Minnesota Senior Care Plus (MSC+) Special Needs BasicCare (SNBC) members

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Care Coordinators

Who are they?•Registered Nurse or Licensed Social Worker•Health plans have “delegate” care coordinators

(contracts with care systems, counties, agencies)

What do they do?•Communicate, support, educate, arrange services•Communicate with members and their health care providers

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Care Coordinator’s Role• Coordinate services

• Provide effective transition support

• Communicate with individuals involved in the discharge process

• Assess issues known to impact readmissions

• Identify and note current services and needed changes

• Update care plan11

Communication and Efficiencies

• On admission, ask member if they have a care coordinator and connect with care coordinator

• They want to help you with your job

• Good resource - they can assist and provide info

• They can help get services / authorize services

• They know benefit sets

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Key Interventions:

• Improve Transition of Care (TOC) Log

• Train care coordinators in use of TOC Log

• Annual audits of TOC Logs

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Additions to TOC Log

Four Pillars for Optimal Transition:• Timely follow-up visit• Medication self-management• Knowledge of red flags• Use of personal health record

As a result of this transition discussion:• Have you updated the member’s care plan? • Services Started, Stopped, Changed and/or Refused?

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Reality:

• Hospital: 24/7

• Health Plan: M-F (9-5)

• Weekend coverage and processes

• RN / SW discharge planners, health coaches and health plan RN / SW care coordinators

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Care Coordinator Challenges:

• Care coordinator often does not know when a member is admitted or discharged

• Difficult to connect with hospital discharge planners

• They call hospital and can’t obtain info - HIPAA

• Member may not know reason for admission (e.g. Non-English speaking)

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What Health Plans Hope to Achieve:

• Timely notification of admission and discharge info

• Reduce duplication

• Decrease confusion

• Optimize coordination of care and communication

• Reduce readmissions

• Request that hospital discharge planner give patient the health plan care coordinator’s contact info and let them know they will connect with them post-discharge

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Questions & Answers

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Discussion

Questions or Feedback Kim McCoy, MPH, MS

Program Manager, Stratis Health

KMCCOY@stratishealth.org

952-853-8563

Caroline Dietz-Carlson, RN, BS

Quality Improvement Specialist, UCare

cdietz-carlson@ucare.org

612-676-3341

Lorraine Cummings

Quality Improvement Specialist, UCare 

lcummings@ucare.org

612-676-3246

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Upcoming RARE Events….

•RARE Action Learning Day, November 11, 2013, (8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.)

•Next RARE Webinar, August 23, 2013 at noon. Stay tuned for more details.

Future webinars…

•To suggest future webinar topics, contact Kathy Cummings at kcummings@icsi.org.