The healthcare cost curve continues to spiral out of control. Programs such as accountable care and value-based purchasing are exemplar programs with bold cost-containment targets. In addition, we know that non-health issues contribute to a significant portion of healthcare costs. This session will specifically focus on where and how focusing on NMDOH can impact costs.
Please have a look at the full set of HIMSS Webcasts featuring PCCI and Healthbox discussing how to implement NMDOH principles via connected communities of care:
Understanding community need has been a core aspect of hospital operations, especially for organizations with a non-profit status. As we gain greater insights into the impact of non-medical determinants and their impact on positive health outcomes, there is a heightened imperative to revamp how CHNA activities are undertaken and the type of data that are collected. This session will speak to how organizations who have been on the front lines of NMDOH work have altered their approach to their CHNA to gain deeper insights to better contextualize the true needs of their communities. This webcast features PCCI and Healthbox leaders:
Please have a look at the full set of HIMSS Webcasts featuring PCCI and Healthbox discussing how to implement NMDOH principles via connected communities of care:
In the first of three webcasts, we see that as the pandemic continues to unfold, it is painfully clear that underserved populations are at greater risk for COVID-19. As such the importance of connections between clinical and community-based organizations is more important than ever. This session will delve into how communities with operational connected communities of care have responded to the current crisis and will provide insights that can be leveraged in other communities. This webcast features Healthbox and PCCI leaders:
Please have a look at the full set of HIMSS Webcasts featuring PCCI and Healthbox discussing how to implement NMDOH principles via connected communities of care:
DALLAS – As of October, Parkland Center of Clinical Innovations’ (PCCI) Vulnerability Index continues to observe increases in vulnerability to COVID-19 infection in Dallas County, with several hot-spots showing a significant increase in their Vulnerability Index (VI) .
Figure 1: Dallas County ZIP codes with the highest vulnerability values.
Launched in June, PCCI’s Vulnerability Index determines communities at risk by examining comorbidity rates, including chronic illnesses such as hypertension, cancer, diabetes and heart disease; areas with high density of populations over the age of 65; and increased social deprivation such as lack of access to food, medicine, employment and transportation. These factors are combined with dynamic mobility rates and confirmed COVID-19 cases where a vulnerability index value is scaled relative to July 2020’s COVID-19 peak value.
The Vulnerability Index reports that in early October (See Table 1), the ZIP Code with the highest vulnerability value continued to be 75211, around Cockrell Hill. This area has been a high-risk area since the launch of PCCI’s Vulnerability Index.
Other ZIP codes of note include the area in 75228, which has risen from the sixth most at risk zone in July to the second most as of October. The ZIP code, 75204, is now the seventh most at-risk zone, after being outside the top ten in July. Additionally, the ZIP codes, 75240 and 75243 both dropped out of the top ten most vulnerable ZIP codes as of October.
PCCI’s Vulnerability Index also found that the top five most vulnerable ZIP codes showed the most extreme increases (See Table 2); the next five had growth but remain at a moderate Vulnerability Index levels. Contributing to vulnerability rating for all ten ZIP codes was increased year-over-year mobility that was detected. COVID-19 case counts have also increased generally across the county.
“The ways to fight this virus remain the same as prior months – limit outside visits,
wash your hands regularly and thoroughly with soap, wear a mask when travel is required outside the home, and continue social distancing,” said Thomas Roderick, PhD, Senior Data and Applied Scientist at PCCI. “Also, be sure to listen to public health authorities, such as the Dallas County HHS, Texas DSHS, and CDC. Working together we can push back against the recent increase in cases.”
Figure 2: Dallas County ZIP codes by increase in Vulnerability Ranking change.
The PCCI COVID-19 Vulnerability Index can be found on its COVID-19 Hub for Dallas County at: https://covid-analytics-pccinnovation.hub.arcgis.com/.
Data Sources:
To build Vulnerability Index, PCCI relied on data from Parkland Health & Hospital System, Dallas County Health and Human Services Department, the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council, U.S. Census, and SafeGraph.
About Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation
Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) is an independent, not-for-profit, healthcare intelligence organization affiliated with Parkland Health & Hospital System. PCCI leverages clinical expertise, data science and Non Medical Drivers of Health to address the needs of vulnerable populations. We believe that data, done right, has the power to galvanize communities, inform leaders, and empower people.
Below is the PCCI’s COVID-19 animated heat map that shows the infection spread in Dallas County beginning on March 9, 2020 and ending on October 18, 2020, using Dallas County Health & Human Services Department’s COVID-19 confirmed and presumed case data. The animated geomap includes hot spots, indicated in orange, of cases over 14-day periods.
The underlying map (purple highlights) is PCCI’s Vulnerability Index updated with COVID-19 cases and SafeGraph mobility data as of October 19, 2020. Dallas County Jail and Federal Bureau of Prison locations excluded from the visualization.
Go to PCCI’s COVID-19 Hub to track cases, see the new Vulnerability Index and heat maps in Dallas County at: https://covid-analytics-pccinnovation.hub.arcgis.com/
As a reflection of the outstanding efforts PCCI has conducted battling the COVID-19 outbreak in Dallas, the Dallas Business Journal has honored Steve Miff, as a representative of PCCI, for its “2020 Most Inspiring Leaders” award. The awards honor companies and corporate leaders from the North Texas-area representing different sized companies from a number of industries who helped lead efforts to combat the pandemic.
Click this link to see a slide show of all DBJ’s honorees:
Keith Kosel, PCCI’s VP of Corporate Relations and co-author of “Building Connected Communities of Care,” published an article in Electronic Health Reporter. The article, “Governance: The Glue That Holds Connected Communities of Care Together,” discusses the importance of governance in the PCCI connected community of care model that brings together community, government and healthcare organizations together in order to help under-served communities. To read the article, please click on the image below:
In this story from HealthIT Analytics, how PCCI is using data analytics technologies to identify at-risk individuals and alleviate health disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic is examined. Please click on the image below to read the whole story.
Steve Miff, president and chief executive officer of Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation, shares how to use data analytics to identify at-risk individuals. He describes how the center’s proximity risk index can help physicians decide when to direct patients to telehealth, identify patients facing Non Medical Drivers of Health and health disparities, and provide evidence to guide policy measures.
Click on the image below to listen to the podcast for healthcare professionals seeking solutions to today’s and tomorrow’s top challenges.
PCCI data science and clinical experts, along with team leaders at Parkland Health and Hospital System, have published a new paper about the Parkland Trauma Index of Mortality* on arXiv®. arVix is an open archive for scholarly articles maintained and operated by Cornell University. The paper “Parkland Trauma Index of Mortality (PTIM): Real-time Predictive Model for PolyTrauma Patients” explores how a machine learning algorithm that uses electronic medical record data to predict 48−hour mortality during the first 72 hours of hospitalization.
“This project is an outstanding collaboration between PCCI and Parkland and probably first of its kind dynamic and real-time predictive model for polytrauma patients,” said Manjula Julka, MD, MBA, Vice President, Clinical Innovation at PCCI. “Dr. Adam Starr, distinguished ortho trauma surgeon at Parkland, is a key leader in this project. Parkland’s trauma center is committed to providing state-of-the-art innovative, high quality care for best health outcomes. This paper outlines how we were able to leverage machine learning to help predict mortality for trauma patients in a way where surgery and critical care teams are able to use this, along with other clinical decision support tools, as a way to help save lives.”
To view and download the paper, click on the image below:
*The Parkland Trauma Index of Mortality model is a free software and is distributed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL).
PCCI data science and clinical experts, along with team leaders at Parkland Health and Hospital System, have published a new paper about the Parkland Trauma Index of Mortality* on arXiv®. arVix is an open archive for scholarly articles maintained and operated by Cornell University. The paper “Parkland Trauma Index of Mortality (PTIM): Real-time Predictive Model for PolyTrauma Patients” explores how a machine learning algorithm that uses electronic medical record data to predict 48−hour mortality during the first 72 hours of hospitalization.