Memphis, Tenn.-based Regional One Health partnered with Camden (N.J.) Coalition of Healthcare Providers, a nonprofit organization committed to improving health, to launch a three-year project analyzing hospital "super users" with the goals of cutting hospital costs and reducing the number of hospital services these patients need, according to the Memphis Daily News.
The study will analyze hospital data to understand the reasons patients become frequent users of hospital services. Regional One Health will then use the information gained from the study to help create a plan to reduce costs for the health system and improve the health of the patient population.
The first six months of the study will focus on understanding the data and the frequent user population. After the initial phase, Regional One Health will hire a program manager and create a care model to assist these super users, simultaneously cutting costs.
Regional One's early estimate suggests that this project could result in saving more than $1 million by focusing their efforts on reducing so-called high utilizers.
"When you look at the patient population that we serve, there are a number of people who utilize high-cost services, like the emergency department or inpatient admissions, more frequently than others," Susan Cooper, Regional One's chief integration officer and senior vice president of ambulatory services, said. "A hospital or emergency department isn't the best place to take care of routine or chronic conditions."