Prioritizing innovation, clinical quality and patient safety are major factors in reduced readmission rates that exceed national benchmarks
TeamHealth, one of the country’s largest integrated physician practices, announced today that the company’s hospital medicine client sites significantly outpaced national benchmarks for reduced hospital readmissions.
According to recent data compiled by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, TeamHealth’s 30-day hospital readmission rate was only 6.8% – significantly lower than the national benchmark range of 13.9%-20%. These low readmission rates are especially critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, when TeamHealth’s partner hospitals and health systems need all resources at their disposal to treat patients suffering from the virus.
“Our readmission rates are just one example of TeamHealth’s world-class clinicians’ commitment to deliver superior clinical care to our patients,” said TeamHealth Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jody Crane. “Beating the national benchmark for 30-day readmissions by over 50% establishes our hospitalists as leaders in the industry and tells patients and hospitals that we are only satisfied with the best possible outcomes for the people and communities we serve.”
“I could not be more proud and happy for our hospitalists and clinical leaders,” said TeamHealth Chief Clinical Officer for Hospitalist Services, Dr. Rohit Uppal. “In hospitals across the country, they make clinical quality and patient safety their top priority every day. The collaboration we enjoy with our partner hospitals, as well as our data-driven approach and culture of continuous improvement makes these results possible.”
The national benchmark is based on data compiled by AHRQ’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project from 2010-2016 and CMS from 2018-2020. According to recent AHRQ data, the national 30-day readmission rate declined by 7% among all patients with stays billed to Medicare and increased 14% among uninsured patients. Over the 2018-2020 time period, readmission rates across TeamHealth client sites declined by 15%.
Leveraging the strength of clinical leaders across the country, TeamHealth is able to design and implement programs that promote clinical quality and patient safety. One example is the company’s proprietary communication program, Achieving Peak Performance in Patient Experience (A-PEX). The A-PEX program ensures that each hospitalist team is continually improving communication skills so that patients understand their plan of care and hospitalists develop the type of deep connection with patients needed to drive strong adherence to treatment plans.
Another example of TeamHealth’s leadership position in hospital medicine is the company’s focus on process redesign to promote effective handoffs between hospitalists and effective integration and communication with emergency medicine, post-acute providers, and other specialists involved in the patient’s care. Lastly, establishing effective multidisciplinary rounds that leverages the expertise of nursing, therapy, case management and pharmacy is a key component of TeamHealth’s ability to reduce a patient’s readmission risk.
About TeamHealth
At TeamHealth, our purpose is to perfect the practice of medicine, every day, in everything we do. We are proud to be the leading physician practice in the U.S., driven by our commitment to quality and safety and supported by our world-class operating team. To improve the experience of our physicians and advanced practice clinicians, we empower clinicians to act on what they believe is right, free clinicians from distractions so they can focus on patient care, invest in learning and development to promote growth in the clinical field and foster an environment where continuous improvement is a shared priority. Through our more than 15,000 affiliated healthcare professionals and advanced practice clinicians, TeamHealth offers emergency medicine, hospital medicine, critical care, anesthesiology, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, obstetrics, ambulatory care, post-acute care and medical call center solutions to approximately 2,900 acute and post-acute facilities and physician groups nationwide. Join our team; we value and empower clinicians. Partner with us; we deliver on our promises. Learn more at www.teamhealth.com.
The term “TeamHealth” as used throughout this release includes Team Health Holdings, Inc., its subsidiaries, affiliates, affiliated medical groups and providers, all of which are part of the TeamHealth organization. “Providers” are physicians, advanced practice clinicians and other healthcare providers who are employed by or contract with subsidiaries or affiliated entities of Team Health Holdings, Inc. All such providers exercise independent clinical judgment when providing patient care. Team Health Holdings, Inc., does not have any employees, does not contract with providers and does not practice medicine.