San Diego County is one of 17 regions in the nation funded to expand an electronic health information exchange that will improve the reporting of communicable diseases and reduce the hospital readmissions of chronically-ill patients.
The system can be used by hospitals, public health agencies, emergency medical services and other healthcare providers.
“If done right and with full participation of the entire community, money and lives will be saved,” said Vice-Chairman Ron Roberts, County Board of Supervisors.
The County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to accept $1.5 million from the Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program, established in 2009 with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. The money will be used not only to expand the electronic health information exchange, but also to help patients manage their own health and to reduce unnecessary and redundant testing.
Over the next two years, the County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) will receive $1.5 million of the $15.3 million coming to the San Diego program, which is led by the University of California, San Diego. HHSA could receive an additional $1 million if this initiative proves successful. A complete list of local partners is available here.
“Health information exchange provides a real means to lower health care costs, while improving quality and efficiency as patients transition between different medical providers or health systems,” said Eric McDonald, M.D., M.P.H., County Deputy Public Health Officer. “Anyone going from a clinic to a hospital, from a hospital to a nursing home, from the street to the emergency department, from a general practitioner to a specialist will benefit from the efficient and secure transmission of electronic medical information.”
HHSA will use the funds to increase participation in the San Diego Immunization Registry, reducing unnecessary duplications of vaccinations and improving vaccination compliance. The Agency will also improve communicable disease reporting using individual and population health indicators to identify disease threats, which will allow earlier identification of disease outbreaks.
Another important component of the health exchange is the electronic transmission of pre-hospital information, including electrocardiograms, to emergency departments which will improve the quality of care and patient outcomes.
HHSA’s Care Transitions Intervention program or CTI, a four-week process that encourages patients to take a more active role in their health care, will also be expanded. Established in June 2010 by the HHSA Aging and Independence Services (AIS) and Sharp Memorial Hospital, the program puts patients together with a “transition coach” to help them learn the skills needed to transition from hospital to home and to help the patients avoid readmission. The pilot program has reduced hospital readmissions, generating savings for the hospital and encouraging better health for the patients.
Of the 88 high-risk and chronically-ill patients who completed the program, only 2.3 percent had to be readmitted after 30 days, resulting in $6,329 savings per patient. In comparison, 12.6 percent of Sharp Memorial Hospital patients—also ages 55 and older with the same diagnoses—had to be readmitted.
“CTI has proven to be effective in reducing avoidable hospital readmissions,” said Pam Smith, AIS Director. “Patients who complete the program are significantly less likely to be readmitted and more likely to identify and manage their disease symptoms and help in their own recovery.”
