Electronic health record use can help improve the health and care coordination of patients with boosts diabetes care, according to a federally funded study by the Western New York Beacon Community, the Buffalo News reports (Watson, Buffalo News, 12/12).
Background on Western New York Beacon Community
The 2009 federal economic stimulus package included funds for Beacon community grants aimed at helping health care providers use health IT in their communities (iHealthBeat, 8/22).
In 2010, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT awarded $220 million in grants to 15 Beacon Communities and later awarded $30.3 million to two additional communities. The grants directed the organizations to demonstrate the benefits of health IT and lay the foundation for tens of thousands of new health IT jobs (iHealthBeat, 8/26/10).
The Western New York Beacon project’s $16.1 million grant is the largest of the 17 Beacon Community awards.
The Western New York Beacon project is a partnership between:
- HealtheLink;
- Catholic Medical Partners;
- P2 Collaborative of Western New York; and
- More than 40 other health care groups.
Study Details
The study included:
- About 40,000 patients; and
- 344 primary care physicians at 98 practices.
The study used EHRs to create diabetes registries that:
- Track laboratory tests and results (Buffalo News, 12/12);
- Create personalized reminders and guidance for patient care; and
- Generate quarterly reports to help physicians identify areas to improve care and reduce costs.
The Beacon project also implemented:
- Preventive telemonitoring to reduce emergency department visits and hospital readmissions;
- Medication therapy management tools to alert doctors in real time of changes made during ED visits; and
- Patient portals that provide access to prescription refills, appointment requests and lab results (Hall, FierceHealthIT, 12/12).
Study Findings
Among the 57 medical practices that consistently used the registries for one year, the percentage of patients with diabetes who had uncontrolled blood sugar levels fell by an average of 4%, while some practices experienced a 10% improvement.
In addition, practices involved in the Beacon project prevented three avoidable hospitalizations per 100 diabetes patients in 2012, resulting in annual savings of $600 per patient.
If the project’s guidelines were followed by 20% of patients with diabetes and their doctors in Western New York, the savings could amount to $18 million annually (Buffalo News, 12/12). Source
