Optimizing Patient Care Case Studies

Truman Medical Centers was named a 2019 HIMSS Davies Enterprise Award recipient for leveraging the value of health information and technology to improve outcomes. The three case studies below cover improving opioid prescribing practices, preventing patient falls through virtual solutions and reducing readmissions.

Case Studies

1. Optimizing Health IT to Promote Opioid Stewardship

As health systems seek ways to battle the opioid epidemic, a collaborative team at Truman Medical Centers undertook multiple initiatives to improve the use of opioids across the organization. The team began by identifying patients at risk for opioid related complications and looking for ways to reduce unnecessary opioid prescribing, improving opioid safety.

2. Improving Patient Safety Using Virtual Observation

To reduce patient falls, Truman Medical Centers implemented a virtual observation solution that tracks a patient’s movements and warns trained technicians when a patient is at risk of falling. This was integrated with a mobile messaging and notification solution, which sends alerts to a nurse’s phone when activity is detected. These improvements helped TMC reduce falls by more than 34%.

3. Reducing 30-Day Readmission Rates

By utilizing a transitional care pharmacist (TCP), the number of unplanned 30-day readmissions decreased from 28% to 10% in patients at the highest risk for readmission. This was achieved by obtaining a thorough medication history, optimizing treatment, counseling on chronic disease states, and removing barriers to obtain medications at discharge.