As the cost of healthcare continues to increase and Medicare reimbursements continue a downward trend, many small, rural health care facilities have the difficult task of trying to control costs and make ends meet. To that end, the Choctaw Regional Medical Center has joined forces with other hospitals and clinics in an accountable care organization.
According to Brooke Eaves, the ACO Champion for CRMC, a group of healthcare providers came together with the goal of holding each other accountable for the quality of care that they deliver to their patients. One of the main areas of focus is in preventative medicine, as opposed to treatment of chronic ailments in all areas including physical, mental, cognitive and environmental issues.
Eaves said, “Instead of focusing on treatment of chronic conditions, and illness in general, after the disease has taken hold, let’s look at this from a different perspective. Let’s focus more on preventative medicine and see if we can control the cost by preventing the disease in the first place.”
Eaves added that ‘we have been living in an encounter-based’ environment, i.e. how many patients can the provider see in a day, a fee-for-service model. She said, “We are shifting that focus a little bit and looking more at spending a little more time per patient.” This would include utilizing nurses working at the top of their license and doing whatever they can within the boundaries of that license. This might include screenings and documentation, preparing the patient for the face-to-face visit with the physician or nurse practitioner.
CRMC is now a part of the Myriad Health Alliance, an ACO consisting of many hospitals in Mississippi; Paul Gardner of the Mississippi Hospital Association was instrumental in the formation of this group. This is important in that the more diverse and spread out the patient population, the less of a burden on any one small, critical-care facility such as CRMC; and all members of the alliance work together to hold one another accountable.
It leaves room for the sickest patients to come into the ER or to be admitted to the hospital and shifts more chronic patients to primary care.
Myriad Health Alliance will be working with Caravan Health who will provide necessary data, support and education to help hold all alliance members accountable for giving good care and reducing costs.
