The American Hospital Association recommends these steps to support performance management in bundling:
- “Develop a system to identify patients likely to qualify for bundled episodes early and assess their risk for complications, and track their progress through the bundle episode.
- “Develop multidisciplinary teams, led by physician champions, in the implementation of standard care processes to reduce variations in care to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs.
- “Develop a high-functioning discharge planning process.
- “Enhance data analytics and information sharing capabilities.”
Meanwhile, says a piece in Hospitals & Health Networks, Burlington, Mass.-based Lahey Health has partnered with xG Health Solutions, in Columbia, Md., to help guide it through its bundled-payment adoption, as well as to provide analysis of CMS data from procedures using bundled payments.
Thus Lahey now knows the analytics of where and when patients get care within 90-days after discharge, when patients visit emergency departments, and whether they’re readmitted to the hospital other than at Lahey. This information helps to identify patterns the knowledge of which can be used to improve care quality.
The H&HN piece reports:
”{D}ata showed patients participating in the total joint {replacement} bundle were being readmitted with wound infections. After assessing various options, the hospital adopted seven-day dressings, which reduced infections and enhanced patient and staff satisfaction by eliminating multiple dressing changes per day while in-house and associated hospital readmissions post-discharge.”
And:
“One of the keys to success under the bundled-payment model is developing ongoing communication with other providers within the community. Bringing together representatives from the hospital, including physicians, along with home health, acute rehab, and skilled-nursing providers, has helped build trust and understanding of what role each group serves.”
But ”it is critical that physicians have dedicated time to focus on process improvement initiatives under bundled payment.”
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