Media Coverage: Patient EngagementHit – Behind The Scenes of Accountable Health Communities, SDOH Screening Model

Behind The Scenes of Accountable Health Communities, SDOH Screening Model
By Patient EngagementHit
October 24, 2022 – Healthcare organizations nationwide are clamoring over social determinants of health (SDOH) screening and intervention strategies nowadays, but that wasn’t entirely the case even five years ago, according to Steve Miff, MD, the president and CEO of Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation…
https://patientengagementhit.com/features/behind-the-scenes-of-accountable-health-communities-sdoh-screening-model

 

Can a Connected Community of Care reduce use and healthcare costs? The Dallas Accountable Health Communities Has Given Us Some Answers

By Jacqueline Naeem, MD, Senior Medical Director/Program Director AHC

In a recent article posted in the globally recognized leader in healthcare publishing, the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst (NEJM Catalyst), we detailed how PCCI led the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Model in Dallas County.1

To view the NEJM Catalyst article, click here: https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.22.0149

As the article details, this five-year initiative, which included partnerships with the region’s top healthcare providers (e.g., Parkland Health) and community-based organizations (CBOs), demonstrated its positive impact on health care outcomes for some of the most vulnerable Dallas County residents.

The aim of the initiative was to answer the question as to whether cost and utilization outcomes can be improved through addressing health related social needs (HRSNs) of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. CMS identified the core HRSNs (i.e., food, housing, utilities, transportation, and interpersonal safety) but beneficiaries also disclosed needs for additional items, such as medical equipment, diapers, and baby formula. We hoped that by identifying these needs and connecting beneficiaries to resources to assist with meeting the needs, we would see a reduction both in health costs and emergency department utilization.

We found the answer was Yes. But while our results seem straightforward, as we discuss below, for the DAHC (as with other connected community of care models) there were multiple, interconnected elements at play and the route to get there was at times heavily circuitous (but always rewarding). We will begin by sharing our output and results.

We (PCCI and partner community health workers) were able to provide over 9,000 beneficiaries with active case management (we refer to this as navigation) where they were screened for their HRSNs, and then referred to CBOs for assistance in resolving the identified needs. The community health workers (CHWs) also provided monthly follow-up calls with each beneficiary until their needs were met, or for up to 12 months. Over the initiative’s course, PCCI identified more than 19,000 distinct needs, with 61% of individuals having two or more concurrent needs. Through the referral process, CBOs provided a multitude of support services, including more than 200,000 pounds of food and $540,000 in utility rent assistance.

With that output, as outlined in greater detail in the NEJM Catalyst article, we were able to make some conclusions. Results showed that actively navigated individuals experienced a greater decrease in per-person ED visits than those in a comparable control cohort, with the navigation cohort having a statistically significant reduction in average ED utilization, both while actively navigated and in the 12 months after navigation. We also found that there is an ROI of $1.34 per dollar spent, which demonstrates the positive impacts on cost as well.

To better understand how we achieved these results, it is important to examine how we built the DAHC.

 PCCI’s Role

As we discuss in the NEJM Catalyst article, PCCI served as a bridge organization to lead implementation of the AHC Model in Dallas, in collaboration with clinical delivery sites, CBOs, state Medicaid agencies, and other community stakeholders. Bridge organizations across the country were predominantly health systems and hospitals, but also included nonprofits like PCCI, health IT providers, academic institutions, health plans, and a public health agency. PCCI partnered with 17 clinical sites, representing five Dallas health care systems and more than 100 local CBOs, to establish the DAHC. The Model began in May 2017 and ended in April 2022. Beneficiary screenings began in the summer of 2018 following a 12-month pre-implementation period. Using a CMS-developed HRSN screening tool, PCCI and its partners screened 12,548 unique Dallas County beneficiaries meeting the criteria for Model eligibility.

As you can imagine, making a program as large as this (and involving mass screenings in a healthcare setting) operational, with multiple players involved, was no small task. We had to complete a significant amount of work before we even began speaking to patients. We first had to establish the collaborative partnerships needed, including an Advisory Board, which fortunately for DAHC was made up of key community stakeholders and Texas Medicaid, to help provide key insights and drive our work. We also had to establish the infrastructure, standard operating procedures, and workflows in the early stages of the program. CMS set quarterly targets for screening and navigation so we had a clear goal of how many individuals we would need to navigate each month to satisfy the targets.

DAHC: Implementation

When we first started screening individuals, we were based in clinical sites, as we thought that we could conduct screening for HRSNs as part of that encounter. However, it quickly became apparent that we would struggle to meet our CMS targets using this approach. It was difficult to get participation from individuals who were understandably focused on their immediate health needs driving the clinical visit and unable to dedicate time or attention to completing the screening questionnaire. Clinical site staff also had more pressing priorities and completing the screening was not at the top of the list. Using these lessons learned, we were able to shift our approach to a successful, telephonic post-visit screening. Using our data science expertise, our team was able to create automated daily lists of potentially eligible individuals that our CHWs could call each day. This allowed us to avoid calling the same individual repeatedly, and also gave us a large pool of people to contact each day. The beneficiary feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Having someone reach out to them after an ED visit or inpatient discharge made them feel cared for, and it was easy for a trusting rapport to be established. We also found that it was much more favorable for the individuals we were screening to answer questions over the phone in their own environment, versus a stressful clinical environment.

Community Health Worker Outreach

CHWs employed a survey using the 10-question, CMS AHC HRSN screening tool that, in addition to asking questions about HRSNs, confirmed navigation eligibility. The screening process established:

  • The beneficiary’s self-reported number of ED visits over the past year.
  • If this number was two or more and the beneficiary was insecure in at least one of the five core HRSN areas, the beneficiary was eligible for navigation.
  • If this number was one or fewer, the CHW completed the survey but then informed the beneficiary that they were ineligible. The CHW provided referrals (for any identified need) if the beneficiary was interested.

Active Navigation

The final stage of the DAHC workflow consisted of navigating the beneficiary. Once an eligible beneficiary completed the AHC HRSN screening and personal interview, the CHW provided a list of CBO referrals best suited to meet the beneficiary’s needs (e.g., for food insecurity, referral to a food bank; for transportation issues, referral to free/low cost transportation resources).

Data Modeling and Analysis

As detailed in the NEJM Catalyst article, to assess the impact of navigation on beneficiary health care utilization and expenditures, PCCI constructed a control cohort of beneficiaries who matched as closely as possible the demographic and clinical characteristics of the beneficiaries in the intervention cohort.

For the purposes of our analysis, we opted to use only actual Parkland Health (Parkland) cost data for eligible beneficiaries as captured by Parkland’s EMR and financial accounting systems, as historical experience suggested the vast majority of Parkland beneficiaries repetitively use Parkland as their primary source of care. We wanted to be able to identify whether the positive results we had seen were truly due to the program, versus changes in healthcare utilization as a result of the pandemic.

Figure 1 illustrates the key steps involved in the DAHC program and the corresponding number of beneficiaries engaged at each step of the process, and in the creation of our matched control group.

Although a highly complex undertaking, the DAHC results highlighted the benefits of addressing HRSN within the framework of a connected community of care model. We hope that our experience and the results we found will inspire other organizations who may be thinking about setting up a program such as this. We are happy to share our lessons learned along the way!

About the Author

Dr. Jacqueline Naeem, MD, is a Senior Medical Director/Program Director AHC at PCCI. She is a graduate of the University of Manchester Medical School, Manchester, England, where she also obtained her post-graduate diploma in Psychiatry at the University of Manchester. She undertook postgraduate training in both psychiatry and general practice also in the UK, as well as working as a medical school examiner. Since joining PCCI, Dr. Naeem has used her clinical experience and unique insights in several projects, particularly those with an emphasis on social determinants of health and also mental behavioral projects. Dr. Naeem was also the program leader for the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Model in Dallas County.

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[1] This project was supported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $4.5M with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

PCCI a finalist for D CEO’s 2022 Excellence in Healthcare Awards

Recognizing the amazing contributions to the community, PCCI has been named as a finalist in two categories of the D CEO’s 2022 Excellence in Healthcare Awards.

https://www.dmagazine.com/healthcare-business/2022/09/finalists-announced-d-ceos-2022-excellence-in-healthcare-awards/

This awards program recognizes those individuals and organizations keeping North Texas healthy and has attracted more than 100 nominees. All finalists will be featured in D CEO’s December issue and recognized at an awards event, where the winners will be revealed.

PCCI, as an organization, is finalist in the Achievement in Healthcare Innovation category along with:

                • Intellicentrics
                • Nomi Health
                • Sadiant Health

Steve Miff is a finalist in the Outstanding Healthcare Innovator category, along with:

                • Sumeet Asrani, Baylor Scott & White Health
                • Janet Miles, JPS Health Network
                • John Robertson, Cook Children’s Medical Center

Dallas Morning News Editorial: Health improves when basic needs are met

Dallas Morning News Editorial: Health improves when basic needs are met

It seems obvious to say that people do better in life when they have better access to health care and other services. But developing the data of just how much impact this can have is critical to understanding where and how to make public investments in providing health care.

For Parkland Hospital and other health care providers, some of that data is coming now, and it’s dramatic. For Parkland Hospital and other health care providers, some of that data is coming now, and it’s dramatic.

A recently released scientific study from the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation was just published in The New England Journal of Medicine. It demonstrates that emergency room visits can be steeply reduced when high-risk populations have other needs met, like food, housing, utilities and transportation.

The results of this study boil down to this: If people are able to resolve their immediate economic needs — with the right personnel at the right time — they are healthier. That can lead to greater cost efficiencies for society at large.

READ the full story HERE.

Download the PDF here: Health improves when basic needs are met

 

New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst: PCCI’s Know Thy Patient Program Helps Better Understand Patient Populations

New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst:

Know Thy Patient: A Novel Approach and Method for Patient Segmentation and Clustering Using Machine Learning to Develop Holistic, Patient-Centered Programs and Treatment Plans

By integrating and analyzing metrics associated with barriers to health care access — social vulnerabilities, transportation barriers, lack of insurance coverage — within the clinical context, Parkland Health leaders will be able to better understand the community and patient population they serve in the Dallas–Fort Worth area.

Read the full article here:

https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.22.0084

 

Inside the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst Article on PCCI’s Successful Management of the Dallas Accountable Health Communities Model

The globally recognized leader in healthcare publishing, the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst (NEJM Catalyst), has distributed an in-depth article authored by PCCI detailing its successful journey managing the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Model in Dallas County1.

To view the NEJM Catalyst article, click here: https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.22.0149

The NEJM Catalyst article offers the results of this five-year initiative, which included partnerships with the region’s top healthcare providers and community-based organizations (CBOs), that demonstrates its positive impact on health care outcomes for some of the most vulnerable Dallas County residents.

The peer reviewed NEJM Catalyst article outlines the purpose of the AHC Model in testing whether systematically identifying and addressing Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries’ health-related social needs (HRSN), i.e., food, housing, transportation, utilities, and interpersonal safety, through screening, referral, and community navigation services impacts total health care costs and reduces inpatient and outpatient utilization.

The article further describes how bridge organizations (such as PCCI) served as ‘hubs’ in their communities, forming partnerships with their state Medicaid Agencies, local clinical delivery sites, and CBOs. The Dallas AHC (DAHC) included five major healthcare systems (Parkland Health, Baylor Scott & White, Children’s Health, Methodist Health System, and Metrocare Services), Texas Health and Human Services Commission (TX HHSC), and more than 100 CBOs who provided critical social services to meet the needs of residents in Dallas County ZIP codes with high concentrations of unmet HRSN.

Written by PCCI clinical experts and leaders of all aspects of the DAHC, the NEJM Catalyst article offers a comprehensive look at the full five-year initiative in Dallas and its impact on HRSN, utilization, and costs. This analysis includes critical details (and lessons learned) in the DAHC’s planning and implementation as well as methodology, results, and a look forward.

“We are so proud of the opportunity to lead such a meaningful initiative in partnership with CMS, TX HHSC, our participating healthcare systems, and the hundreds of other North Texas organizations who participated. The innovations, learnings, and results are invaluable and can hopefully serve as a blueprint for expanding these efforts regionally and even to other markets in our collective journey to address the social and personal determinants of health of our most vulnerable families,” said Steve Miff, PCCI’s CEO and President. “The significant number of individuals screened and navigated could not have been possible without the amazing support of the hospital systems and many CBOs in Dallas that actually delivered services to the people who came through the DAHC. This article shows the true scope and community-wide effort that makes programs like this successful.”

The NEJM Catalyst article, co-authored by PCCI’s Jacqueline Naeem, MD, Estefania Salazar-Contreras, Venky Sundaram, PhD, Leslie Wainwright, PhD, Keith Kosel, PhD, and Miff, provided strong evidence of the benefit of addressing HRSNs in a comprehensive manner using active navigation within the framework of a connected community of care model that coordinates efforts between clinical and community services.

“The NEJM Catalyst article digs deep into what our challenges were and the steps we took to test how addressing HRSNs improves utilization and health of vulnerable populations,” said Leslie Wainwright, PhD, PCCI’s Chief Funding and Innovation Officer. “Because of the tremendous effort and success we had in identifying, screening, and navigating so many individuals, this article is able to show some clear, thought-provoking results that will give us a logical path forward as we seek ways to address the needs of those most at-risk in our communities.”

The article reports that during the initiative’s five-year course, PCCI and its partners screened 12,548 individuals and identified more than 19,000 distinct needs, with 61% of individuals having two or more concurrent needs. Through the referral process, CBOs provided a multitude of support services, including more than 200,000 pounds of food and $540,000 in utility and rent assistance.

Additionally, the article shows that actively navigated individuals experienced a greater decrease in per-person ED visits.

“This was a tremendous project that garnered some exciting results, which is why the NEJM Catalyst article is so important for sharing how communities can make this work,” said PCCI’s Jacqueline Naeem, MD, Senior Medical Director/Program Director AHC. “But while the article shows important results, this is about more than just data, this is about the people in need who benefited substantially from the screenings, navigations, and participation in the initiative. The stories we heard of the lives we touched during the five-year program is a lasting legacy of the work our entire community put forward.”

In addition to the DAHC work and with the goal to help other municipalities build their own connected communities of care, PCCI also published an in-depth guidebook, “Building Connected Communities of Care.” This is the definitive guide for taking action using social determinants of health, with practical actionable insights from PCCI’s experience building, deploying, and expanding a connected community of care in Dallas. For more information on “Building Connected Communities of Care,” click here: https://pcci1.wpengine.com/playbook/

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[1] This project was supported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $4.5M with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst: The Dallas Accountable Health Community – Its Impact on Health-Related Social Needs, Care, and Costs

The New England Journal of Medicine/Catalyst published a paper by PCCI on the challenges and successes during the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation’s 5-year involvement in a federally supported study of care delivery efforts to address #SDOH through community collaboration and patient navigation:

Click here for the full story: https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.22.0149

Parkland, PCCI recognized for health technology innovation; Receives first Davies Public Health Award from HIMSS since 2012

DALLAS – Parkland Health, in collaboration with Dallas County Health & Human Services (DCHHS) and Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) announced they have earned the 2022 Public Health Davies Award from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). The award recognizes the outstanding achievement of organizations that have utilized healthcare information and technology to substantially improve patient outcomes and value within the public health arena. The collaborative group is the first Davies Public Health Award recipient recognized by HIMSS since 2012.

“We are honored to be recognized as the first Davies public health recipient in a decade. While it is a privilege to receive this award, the most noteworthy part of this recognition is the way everyone at Parkland, PCCI and the health department comes together to care for the residents of Dallas County,” said Fred Cerise, MD, MPH, Parkland’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “This collaborative effort showcases the many innovative ways that Parkland’s use of data improves the health of our patient population and continues to advance the health and well-being of the individuals and communities entrusted to our care.”

The award application highlighted the collaboration between Parkland, PCCI and DCHHS in creating semi-automated contact tracing and the development of Proximity Initiatives which helped identify potential individuals exposed to COVID and offer resources for medical and food insecurity needs. The team built electronic case reporting between the health department and Parkland along with improved public health reporting, equitable vaccination efforts using the Parkland/DCHHS Community Health Needs Assessment, PCCI’s Community Vulnerability Compass scores and geo-mapping and hot-spotting activities throughout the county for COVID testing and vaccination efforts.

HIMSS surveyors commended Parkland, PCCI and DCHHS for using information technology in clinically meaningful ways to facilitate population health through collaboration and innovation, and in working to hardwire processes for maintaining this collaboration into the future. The award showcases the thoughtful application of health information and technology to substantially improve clinical care delivery, patient outcomes and population health.

“Just as impressive, Parkland Health’s infrastructure supports a digital capacity that addresses the wellness, public health and health-related insecurities of the 2.6 million residents of Dallas County,” said Tom Leary, senior vice president and head of government relations at HIMSS. “It is a model for digitally transforming community health, and it provides a scalable blueprint for modernizing public and community health data for the entire healthcare ecosystem.”

The HIMSS Davies Public Health Award showcases organizations leveraging information and technology to enhance core public health services (contact tracing, syndromic disease surveillance reporting, electronic case reporting, notifiable disease surveillance, vital records reporting, electronic reportable laboratory results reporting and immunization registry reporting and queries) and drive faster, more actionable intelligence to improve community health.

To learn more about Parkland services, visit www.parklandhealth.org.

 

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