Pittsburgh Hospitals Reduce Emergency Department Visits using Patient Navigators
January 26 2015 - 8:03AM
Business Wire
Three hospitals in western Pennsylvania had a 43 percent
reduction in excessive emergency department visits by using patient
navigators – low-cost, trained members of the community who connect
patients with essential care services – as part of a one-year
pilot study conducted by Accenture and the
Highmark Foundation.
With the support of the Patient Navigation Institute (PNI),
Accenture (NYSE:ACN) and the Highmark Foundation developed the
pilot, deploying certified patient navigators to assist roughly
4,000 patients across three western Pennsylvania
hospitals: St. Vincent Health System in
Erie, Allegheny Valley in Pittsburgh and Jameson
Health System in New Castle. In addition to patient
navigators reducing emergency department visits, one
system had a 60 percent reduction in 30-day readmissions, as
part of a broad set of activities, and another had a
13 percent increase in colonoscopy screenings for early
detection.
“The essence of patient navigation is our responsibility to use
finite clinical resources wisely to deliver quality healthcare no
matter people’s circumstances,” said Dr. Harold Freeman,
founder of the Harold P. Freeman Patient Navigation Institute. “Its
roots began in cancer care two decades ago, but the benefits of
patient navigators are transferable, reaching beyond a single
disease or income bracket.”
The navigators took on necessary, non-clinical tasks – such as
conducting post-discharge follow-ups, connecting patients to local
care services and scheduling physician appointments—offsetting
clinicians’ tasks by approximately 25 percent, and enabling them to
focus more on the care of patients. Research by the World
Health Organization indicates an existing shortage of 500,000
U.S. healthcare workers today, and Accenture estimates that the
demand for patient navigators will nearly double over the next
three years.
“In initiating the pilot program, we recognized the opportunity
to improve and assure timely access to quality healthcare for the
communities we serve, while creating sustainable employment
opportunities,” said Yvonne Cook, president of the Highmark
Foundation. “We look forward to replicating the successes achieved
in that study in other communities in the future.”
“Patient navigation not only creates a one-to-one connection for
the patient, it serves as a low-cost investment that delivers
significant value to care delivery,” said David Balderson, who
leads patient navigation at Accenture. “The Highmark Foundation is
uniquely positioned to help hospitals and patients navigate a
number of obstacles within the health system while freeing up time
for clinicians to do what they do best – provide care.”
As announced last year, the Highmark Foundation
committed $254,500 and Accenture provided services at no cost to
patients in support of the one-year program. Accenture works with
The Harold P. Freeman Patient Navigation Institute as part of
its corporate citizenship initiative, “Skills to
Succeed,” dedicating voluntary support and a core team of
professionals who are helping the Institute to equip people with
the skills to become patient navigators. Accenture has provided
$400,000 in scholarships for training patient navigators for the
period 2011-2015 and has granted $750,000 to PNI to help the
organization roll out a patient navigator selection,
skills-building and job readiness program in 35 locations across
the United States.
Learn more about this pilot
program and Accenture’s Insight Driven Health.
About the Highmark Foundation
The Highmark Foundation is a private, charitable organization of
Highmark Inc. that supports initiatives and programs aimed at
improving community health. The Foundation's mission is to improve
the health, well-being and quality of life for individuals who
reside in the communities served by Highmark Inc. The Foundation
strives to support evidence-based programs that impact multiple
counties and work collaboratively to leverage additional funding to
achieve replicable models. For more information, visit
www.highmarkfoundation.org.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services
and outsourcing company, with more than 319,000 people serving
clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled
experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and
business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most
successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help
them become high-performance businesses and
governments. Through its Skills to Succeed corporate
citizenship initiative, Accenture is equipping more than 700,000
people around the world with the skills to get a job or build a
business. The company generated net revenues of US$30 billion for
the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page
is www.accenture.com.
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AccentureJenn Francis, + 630 338
6426jennifer.francis@accenture.com
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