Building a Data Analytics Platform to Improve Efficiency, Outcomes

Dayton Children’s Health Partners (DCHP) partnered with Innovaccer to get assistance creating a data aggregation platform to streamline efficiency and improve patient outcomes.

DCHP is a clinically integrated network based in Dayton, Ohio. Within their network, Dayton Children’s has ten independent pediatric practices. Additionally, across those ten practices, six different electronic medical record (EMR) systems are used.

“Our partnership with Innovaccer is helping us aggregate data from all of those different EMRs. Looking to standardize it and put it all together in one place so we can take a look at the population across the board,” Senior Analytics Specialist at DCHP Sandy Spoltman told HealthITAnalytics.

“The same patient may be seen in multiple settings. They may be having an ER visit or inpatient or at an urgent care center. They may go to another hospital in the area or be seen at more than one of our pediatric practices. So that Innovaccer tool will take the data from all those locations and identify which is the same patient.”

Dayton Children’s began working with Innovaccer several months ago. According to Executive Director at DCHP, they took their time searching for a data vendor that would best meet the hospital’s needs.

“We interviewed several different companies. We had demos from several different companies. We pulled in our providers to make sure that they were on board with Innovaccer and then basically landed on Innovaccer. We vetted them, talked to some of their other clients, etc., before we made the decision,” Grant said.

According to Grant, vendors often want to form partnerships with DCHP, but they don’t have the capability to work in the pediatric space. Innovaccer stood out to DCHP because they could work with pediatric data, and they were also willing to expand their knowledge of it.

Data analytics is an important tool for improving care practices. As a clinically integrated network, Dayton Children’s has created data-driven co-management programs. According to DCHP Nurse Practitioner Angela Eberhart, the co-management programs are a collaborative effort between hospital specialists and primary care providers.

The program’s goal is to find ways to standardize care to improve patient outcomes and lower costs. “We create standardized processes and care paths that get us all aligned as providers when we manage and treat those conditions. We create tools and resources for the patients and families so that they receive the same types of care across the spectrum of care,” Eberhart said.

According to Grant, Dayton Children’s selects what they want to pursue in the co-management program through data observation.

“We’re really looking at data to determine what the high costs in our emergency department are and what lands someone in the ED. We find that a lot of times it’s kids with asthma and they don’t need to be there. So what can we do to implement change so they don’t end up there? Then we use data to measure what we’re doing,” Grant explained.

In addition to data analytics, Innovaccer also works to identify high-cost children in the hospital system and those deemed rising-risk. Through collecting this information, Innovaccer can create a predictive risk model to help meet the community and hospital needs.

Dayton Children’s is currently on a three-year contract with Innovaccer. The partnership with Innovaccer is very new, but Grant hopes that with the recent news from the hospital that they are seeing an increase of 71 percent of children reaching out for behavioral health assistance, that the data Innovaccer will aggregate, will help the CIN practices not only direct initiatives to reduce those stats but measure results of those initiatives as well.

While DCHP is excited to see their partnership with Innovaccer meeting community needs, Spoltman said the hospital system is looking forward to seeing how the technology develops and improves in a pediatric space.

“As Innovaccer evolves and moves forward and becomes more of the expert in pediatric-specific care, we can build a nice platform that can help. Everybody’s looking for the same thing, and that’s improving the quality of care, reducing cost. It’ll be nice to leverage other people using the same tool with the same initiatives and the same big picture goals,” Spoltman said.