MEDai launches patient-specific early warning system for hospitals
22 April 2009
MEDai, Inc., an Elsevier subsidiary, has launch a patient-specific
early-warning system for hospitals, Pinpoint Review. Pinpoint Review
generates predictions for acute-care patients, focusing on the
likelihood of a patient developing a complication, like decubitus
ulcers, acquiring a hospital-acquired infection or being readmitted.
Such events increase hospital mortality rates, boost healthcare
costs, compromise patient care quality and safety, and result in lower
government reimbursement to hospitals. In addition to the predictions,
Pinpoint Review provides a list of triggers behind each prediction,
allowing caregivers to understand the 'why' and more effectively
generate a plan of action.
Pinpoint Review addresses the increasing pressure on hospitals to
deliver a higher quality of care and fewer medical errors. The solution
applies predictive models to patient data while patients are still in
the hospital and while there is time to adjust care to avoid a negative
outcome.
It alerts care providers to patients at risk for developing several
of the conditions that the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS) no longer reimburse. After analyzing cost and quality data
associated with specific CMS 'never events' for several hospitals, MEDai
determined that the cost avoidance for conditions like readmission and
decubitus ulcers can range in the millions per hospital.
"Payors and healthcare quality organizations are exerting more
pressure on hospitals and demanding better care with fewer
complications. Hospitals and other healthcare organizations face the
need to manage costs and MEDai feels this is a prime opportunity to
leverage its best of breed predictive analytics to aid hospitals with
sophisticated data mining and analytics. Pinpoint Review allows
clinicians to identify and manage specific populations with greater
efficiency and effectiveness," said Swati Abbott, President of MEDai.
"By leveraging our analytics, we have developed a tool that proactively
identifies key conditions that can result in millions saved, both in
dollars and lives."
Saving Hospitals Money, Improving Care
Hospitals in the US stand to benefit from Pinpoint Review, especially
because CMS announced that as of October 1, 2008, it would no longer pay
hospitals for treating at least eight conditions not present at
admission. Known as 'never events', these conditions include catheter-
and vascular-associated urinary tract infections, decubitus ulcers and
mediastinitis after coronary artery bypass graft.
Such infections and complications are costly to both hospitals and
patients. For example, the average bill for Pennsylvania residents who
contracted infections during their hospital stay was almost
five-and-one-half times more than patients who did not contract
infections, according to a 2009 study from the Pennsylvania Health Care
Cost Containment Council.
"The availability of Pinpoint Review complements the Department of
Health and Human Services' program to fight the healthcare-associated
infections that kill some 100,000 citizens annually and add $20 billion
in healthcare costs," said James Lederer, MD, Medical Director of
Clinical Improvement at Winston-Salem, NC-based Novant Health. "With
Pinpoint Review MEDai is supporting hospitals and physicians committed
to prioritizing and implementing the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention guidelines on averting and controlling infections."
Pinpoint Review is also aligned with US federal initiatives such as
the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Action Plan to
Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections, which champions partnerships
between federal, local and state governments, promotion of best
practices and patient education on how to prevent infections.
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