Five Ways WakeMed is Leveraging Advanced Analytics for Clinical Care Transformation

Key takeaways:

• Actionable, real-time data is critical for clinical teams to make quick, informed decisions that directly improve patient care.
• Through Premier’s care transformation solutions, WakeMed is able to pinpoint areas of clinical variation, enabling targeted improvements in patient outcomes, particularly in areas like mortality and readmissions.
• Premier’s tools helped WakeMed uncover an eight-digit revenue gap due to under-documentation, prompting a successful initiative to improve coding accuracy.

At WakeMed Health & Hospitals, a not-for-profit healthcare organization based in Raleigh, NC, care transformation is more than just an initiative - it's an ongoing commitment to improving patient outcomes, optimizing resources and fostering collaboration across the health system. To support this mission, WakeMed is working with Premier to leverage advanced reporting and analytics solutions, QualityAdvisor and INsights.

Dr. David Kirk, the chief clinical integration officer at WakeMed, recently shared insights into how innovative technology and advanced analytics have revolutionized their approach to healthcare delivery. Below we explore five key strategies that WakeMed is deploying to drive care transformation.

1. Using Real-Time Data to Anticipate and Address Clinical Challenges

The ability to anticipate problems before they escalate is critical in healthcare. WakeMed has found that real-time data is essential for this purpose – by monitoring clinical outcomes and resource utilization as events unfold, enabling rapid intervention when necessary.

For example, WakeMed closely monitors mortality and readmission rates. The INsights data helps their teams quickly identify trends and investigate root causes before they affect more patients. “Our work with Premier began several years ago and was one of the first times that we had real-time insight into our observed-over-expected rates, and to us, that has been transformative,” said Dr. Kirk.

2. Enhancing Provider Engagement Through Transparent Metrics

Another key challenge is keeping providers engaged and motivated, especially in a field where burnout is common. WakeMed addressed this by using QualityAdvisor to provide transparent, actionable data that directly links to a provider’s clinical work.

QualityAdvisor allows WakeMed to present clear metrics on clinical performance, resource use and patient outcomes, which are regularly shared with providers. This transparency helps providers understand the impact of their work and see the direct results of their efforts. “Having transparent data that our providers can trust and understand is vital. It helps them stay connected to the outcomes they are driving, which in turn keeps them motivated and aligned with our overall goals,” said Dr. Kirk.

3. Optimizing Documentation Practices to Recover Significant Revenue

Accurate documentation is not just a compliance issue; it’s essential for ensuring that the quality of care provided is fully recognized and appropriately reimbursed.

WakeMed discovered, through Premier’s analytics, that despite their high-quality clinical care, they were leaving significant revenue on the table due to gaps in documentation and coding practices. “Premier tools allowed us to see and correct our risk adjustment. We realized our clinical care was excellent, but a lot of the reasons we weren’t getting amazing scores was that we were not documenting and coding correctly,” explained Dr. Kirk.

WakeMed’s deep dive into the INsights dashboards revealed an eight-digit revenue opportunity linked to incomplete documentation and inaccurate coding. This discovery prompted a focused initiative to overhaul documentation practices, ensuring the clinical work was fully captured and correctly coded. As a result, WakeMed has not only improved their quality scores, but also significantly reduced the financial gap.

4. Facilitating Cross-Departmental Collaboration for Unified Care Delivery

Healthcare transformation requires coordinated efforts across departments – fostering collaboration among different teams to ensure that everyone is working toward the same goals with a unified strategy.

For instance, when faced with discrepancies in clinical outcomes, such as those related to acute myocardial infarction, WakeMed brought together their cardiology, documentation and quality improvement teams. Using data from Premier as a common reference point, they were able to align efforts and implement consistent practices across departments. This collaboration was key to improving outcomes and ensuring that all teams were moving in the same direction.

“We combined all that data, and it became our focus. This alignment helped us pull our teams together in an even more cohesive manner, and now we’re all moving in the same direction,” said Dr. Kirk.

5. Identifying Operational Inefficiencies and Driving Improvement

Beyond clinical metrics, WakeMed is also delving into operational data that help uncover potential inefficiencies that, when addressed, can lead to significant improvements in both patient care and resource management.

Through the INsights platform, WakeMed has analyzed various aspects of their operations, from resource utilization to patient flow. This deep dive into data revealed opportunities to streamline processes, reduce waste and improve the overall efficiency of care delivery. Dr. Kirk highlights the importance of this approach: “By focusing on these operational opportunities, we’ve been able to make changes that not only improve our bottom line, but also have a direct, positive impact on patient care.”

A Comprehensive Approach to Care Transformation

WakeMed’s journey in care transformation is a clear demonstration of the power of data-driven decision making. By leveraging actionable, real-time insights to enhance provider engagement, optimize documentation, foster cross-departmental collaboration and identify operational inefficiencies, they have created a robust framework for continuous performance improvement.

For healthcare organizations seeking to navigate the complexities of modern care delivery, WakeMed’s strategies offer valuable lessons. These approaches demonstrate that, with the right tools and a commitment to data-driven practices, it is possible to achieve significant and lasting improvements in patient care and operational efficiency.

For more:

• Learn more about Premier’s solutions. Our experts are ready to help your healthcare organization drive financial and operational improvement.

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