Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality (OFMQ) is inviting acute care hospitals to join a transformational partnership aimed at keeping more than 5,000 Medicare beneficiaries from experiencing avoidable hospitalizations and saving up to $46 million in Medicare dollars in Oklahoma. Your commitment to the Oklahoma Care Transitions Learning and Action Network (OCTLAN) partnership will help you maximize your hospital’s return and align your hospital with high quality, low cost coordinated care as mandated under the Affordable Care Act.
One in five Medicare beneficiaries leaves the hospital today only to return within a month. Experts estimate that 76% of these re-hospitalizations may be preventable. In addition to the suffering that patients and their caregivers experience as a result of these readmissions, the annual cost to Medicare is estimated to be $26 billion.
Recent changes in healthcare policy are placing a strong emphasis on care transitions. The Affordable Care Act’s Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) program will impose financial penalties on hospitals with high rates of readmission. Local partner organizations have joined together in support of The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Partnership for Patients initiative to reduce avoidable hospital admissions by 20% by 2014. With a commitment from leaders in Oklahoma’s hospitals and a focus on evidence-based solutions, we can achieve sustainable, measureable reductions in preventable hospital readmissions.
Hospitals clearly have competing priorities and multiple state and federal initiatives that can impact reimbursement and other resources. The Oklahoma Hospital Association and OFMQ are collaborating to align various hospital initiatives to make it easier for providers in Oklahoma to participate. As we move forward together, our goal is to find common ground and create the most efficient and collaborative approach to help everyone achieve their goals.
A statewide Learning and Action Network (LAN) will be formed to accomplish the objectives. The LAN is an “all participate, all learn” format that seeks to connect everyone with a will to improve in communities of shared learning. Participants include hospitals, skilled and long-term-care nursing facilities, home health agencies, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, long-term hospitals, patients and other motivated groups and individuals. The LAN is a tremendous opportunity for hospitals to position for the future. Components include:
- An “all participate, all learn” collaborative with focused aims
- Structured exchanges of information in live and web-based formats
- Free educational opportunities including conferences and webinars
- Practical insight on the complexities of adapting interventions
- Positive reinforcement of participants’ contributions from field experience and innovations
- A relentless focus on finding new ways to help providers and creating value for participants
Many Oklahoma organizations have already joined in support of the OCTLAN. Steering Committee members are: Leading Age, Oklahoma Association of Health Care Providers, Oklahoma Association of Home Care, Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality, Oklahoma Hospital Association, Oklahoma State Health Department, Oklahoma State University Medical Center and VHA, Oklahoma/Arkansas.
For more information, please visit www.ofmq.com/octlan, or contact Elanor Wallis at (405) 302-3243 or ewallis@ofmq.com.