The Ohio Health Care Coverage and Quality Council (HCCQC) and the Ohio Hospital Association Partner to Reduce Costly Hospital Readmissions

The Ohio Health Care Coverage and Quality Council (HCCQC) and the Ohio Hospital Association (OHA) have joined forces with the State Action on Avoidable Rehospitalizations (STAAR) Initiative in Ohio, aimed at reducing costly avoidable hospital readmissions by improving patient care and the transition from hospital care to home. A total of 19 hospitals across the state have been selected by a team of HCCQC members, state agency leaders and the Ohio Hospital Association’s (OHA) Quality Institute to participate in the pilot project, which runs from September 2010 to June 2011. After the pilot, STAAR will be expanded to hospitals statewide. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) will provide training and technical assistance to the hospitals.

To address some of the major systemic challenges in improving care transitions and reducing hospitalization readmissions, IHI will provide targeted technical assistance in population and provider-based measurement , aiming for a uniform measurement strategy for hospital readmissions; policy and payment frameworks to make it easier to deliver optimal care and to resolve barriers to improvement; financial analysis to provide a better understanding of the impact of reduced readmissions; and community and cross-boundary coordination among providers and settings of care. IHI will support the improvement work in hospitals by creating a robust learning community across the states, hospitals, and teams working on these process changes. IHI will provide content reviews, process recommendations, inventory and celebration of best practices, and suggested measurement strategies.

The hospitals in this initiative include: Adena Regional Medical Center, Chillicothe, Cleveland Clinic, Fairfield Medical Center, Lancaster, Fisher-Titus Medical Center, Norwalk , Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati, Grand Lake Health System, St. Marys , Highland District Hospital, Hillsboro, Holzer Medical Center, Gallipolis , Licking Memorial Hospital, Newark , Lima Memorial Hospital, Mary Rutan Hospital, Bellefontaine, Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton Mount Carmel St. Ann’s, Columbus, Riverside Methodist Hospital, Columbus, St. Rita’s Medical Center, Lima, The Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, The Toledo Hospital, and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland.