Last week I attended a meeting presented by the Director of Broward Regional Health Planning Council who detailed a new initiative his team has implemented as a way to improve the health care system’s effectiveness and efficiency for the uninsured by increasing needed resources in Broward County, Fla.

The initiative’s activities include conducting inpatient avoidable admissions data analysis, developing intervention strategies, and implementing pilot programs to reduce avoidable admissions. In 2005, according to the Planning Council website, there were approximately 24,000 avoidable admissions at tax-assisted hospital facilities in Broward County. As a result of avoidable admissions, emergency departments struggle with increased volume and strained capacity, which create backlogs and delays in care. Further, avoidable admissions through the ED result in patients receiving care in inappropriate and high-cost settings. By identifying avoidable admissions in Broward County, high quality, community-based primary care interventions for ambulatory sensitive conditions can be developed to alleviate avoidable admissions, target resources and track programmatic and policy intervention impact.

The program is made possible through a new program from the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) that allows de-identified data from hospitals to be put into a database that will produce Prevention Quality Indicators. This information provides valuable information that allows public health officials and hospital administrators to look critically at the quality of the health care system outside of the hospital setting and determine what programs need to be put in place to better meet the needs of those most at risk. In addition, the data provides a benchmark to determine if the educational programs that are put into place are making an impact on avoidable admissions. To learn about the program, visit AHRQ’s website here.

This is an excellent example of how collaboration between the Public Health Department and local hospital systems can create ways to use and analyze data, address access issues for those at risk, implement programs that address those issues, and evaluate the effectiveness of the programs. As we continue to learn how to use data more effectively, it will be exciting to see the improvements that can be made in addressing cost, quality and access for all users of our health care system.

Have a great week!

Anne Llewellyn, RN-BC, MS, BHSA, CCM, CRRN
Editor-in-Chief of Across My Desk, Case in Point magazine, and the Case Management Resource Guide
allewellyn@dorlandhealth.com