Tennessee Medical Home Initiative Improves Quality with Cloud Computing Solution

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Holston Medical Group and Performance Clinical Systems Launch "Cloud Computing" Solution to Improve Post-Hospitalization Care

As part of its Patient-Centered Medical Home strategy, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (Chattanooga) is partnering with local healthcare provider groups and hospitals to roll out technology designed to positively impact the quality of patient care once that person leaves the hospital. Holston Medical Group in Kingsport is the first to incorporate SmartTransitions from Performance Clinical Systems in its hospital discharge workflows.

Numerous benefits in patient safety have been achieved since the technology was introduced, including alerting primary care physicians in 18 percent of the cases that a new "high-risk" medication had been prescribed and in 24 percent of the cases that post-hospitalization tests were ordered requiring primary care physician follow up.

Performance Clinical's SmartTransitions is a "cloud-based" interactive clinical checklist system, accessible anywhere through a secure Internet connection, which provides active guidance for clinicians to consider as they make their patient discharge plans. The system then makes those plans instantly available via a computer to primary care physicians for proactive follow up with their patients. All steps are captured electronically in a database for ongoing analysis to support quality and performance improvement goals.