December 4, 2020
By Erica Galvez
Aledade’s growth is about more than adding new practices or forming new ACOs. To us, true growth represents strengthening our network of primary care practices by giving physicians new insight into their patient populations.
This is made possible by creating access to one of the most vital resources primary care practices need – data. Access to timely, relevant data is empowering to practices and impacts everything from workflow to quality of care.
Since our founding, Aledade has emphasized the importance of getting data flowing to – and from – our ACO partner practices. And Aledade’s model is designed to focus on equipping primary care doctors with everything they need to utilize this data and deliver high-quality, coordinated care.
As we grow, Aledade continues to develop relationships with stakeholders throughout the national and local health care markets to equip our ACOs with the data they need. A big part of this is working with Health Information Exchange networks (HIEs) in the communities our ACOs serve.
That’s why Aledade is excited about connecting our ACOs with four new HIEs: Clinisync of Ohio Health Information Partnership, Healthix New York, Louisiana Health Information Exchange (LaHIE), and Mississippi Health Information Network (MS-HIN). Together, these HIEs will connect our partner practices in Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, and West Virginia with more than 130 hospitals.
Across all of Aledade’s ACOs, practices are connected to more than 500 hospitals through our HIE partnerships. The data that physicians access through these connections allows them to see a more holistic view of the care their patients receive, extending well beyond the four walls of their practice.
For instance, Admission Discharge Transfer (ADT) data from local hospitals lets primary care doctors know when their patients have been hospitalized. This allows them to coordinate with hospital providers and support patients with Transitional Care Management (TCM), proven to reduce hospital readmissions.
Connecting our ACOs to HIEs is only the first step in strengthening primary care through data. In addition to HIE data, Aledade ACOs pull together data from a number of sources such as Medicare claims and private payer data – all integrated in the Aledade app. The integration of data from multiple sources allows doctors to effectively manage population health by identifying and prioritizing patients for TCM, Chronic Care Management (CCM), and wellness visits – listing patients by their risk level or time since last appointment.
Aledade knows the value data offers to primary care practices. But, we also know that it is a three step process to use data to improve care. First, practices need to get the data. That’s why we focus on connecting to HIEs to deliver data to practices. Next, practices need to derive insights from the data. The Aledade app integrates all of practices’ clinical and claims data, giving doctors a full picture of patients’ health and care. Finally, practices need to act on the data, as it guides them to deliver high-quality, coordinated care.