The development and implementation of innovative technologies is significantly transforming the current healthcare landscape. This rise in use of digitally based tools and solutions is only expected to continue, leading to more and more data generated by patients, consumers and providers. With this in mind, it is imperative that healthcare leaders and organizations look for new ways to embrace technology and use it to improve the lives of the patients they serve.
In 2018, the global health industry held 1,218 exabytes of data. For reference, one exabyte could hold all the printed material in the Library of Congress – 100,000 times over. And, this astonishing number will keep growing. According to the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) whitepaper The Digitization of the World: From Edge to Core, the healthcare industry is currently the smallest of the four industry dataspheres in the IDC’s study, behind financial services, manufacturing and media, and entertainment, signifying that it is primed for the fastest growth and advancement in analytics.
Harnessing and personalizing data in order to improve the care of patients and their overall health outcomes is the challenge of our time. The data is there, but how do we actually make it work for the benefit of real people?
CVS Health and Aetna designed a data-driven, health promotion program that gets at this exact issue. Coming from the unique position as both a retail and health destination, we seized an opportunity to use data in an innovative way with the hope of driving better health outcomes and redefining relationships with members and plan sponsors.
The program, Rush to Brush, is an early example of how personalizing data can impact patient well-being. By identifying patients in “moments that matter,” or critical times in their care journey, health organizations can improve patient health and even save lives. For this proof-of-concept, CVS Health and Aetna looked to offer a simple solution to an all-too-common problem: hospital-acquired pneumonia.
Pinpointing a health concern
Before data can play a role in developing a solution, a problem must first be identified—and hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is certainly a common one.
HAP is a hospital-acquired infection (HAI), and HAIs are one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States. HAP alone has a 30 percent mortality rate for patients. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services even stepped in, setting five-year goals for HAI prevention. Yet, a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found no significant reduction in HAP cases over the past several years, despite reductions in other HAIs, suggesting more efforts targeting HAP were necessary.
Surprisingly, there is a simple solution to this troublesome issue: oral care. When patients enter a hospital, their mouths become a hotbed for bacteria and other germs to enter their bodies and grow – particularly those linked to pneumonia. The simple act of brushing one’s teeth can help eliminate this bacterium and, therefore, reduce the risk of getting sick.
This solution was all but proven in a study by Sutter Medical Center that ran from 2012 to 2014, wherein protocol was updated to require patients to receive oral care four times a day. Patients, nurses and family members received oral care educational materials, and they tested monthly for changes in HAP. Throughout this two-year period, incidents of post-operative HAP dropped by 70 percent and it was estimated that the hospital saved 31 lives and $5.9 million in costs.
Designing the solution
With the wealth of data at our fingertips, CVS Health and Aetna recognized the opportunity for intervention. The company began to think how its unique reach could be applied to better serve members, and ultimately, help them along their health journeys.
Data was analyzed to develop a list of 25 surgeries that required several inpatient days and had a historical HAP incidence greater than 2 percent. These surgeries included knee and hip replacements and thoracic procedures. The data yielded insights as to which members were likely to have a lengthy hospital stay in their future, allowing CVS Health and Aetna to identify and connect with members ahead of their hospital visit and preemptively provide them with an oral health kit.
The oral health kits were designed to be personalized for members, containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash and educational materials that both outline facts about HAP as well as how to conduct proper oral hygiene. The kits all came in a small, travel-sized pouch and included personalized get-well soon cards.
Seeing the results
By reaching patients before their surgeries, they’re more aware of the risks of HAP and therefore better equipped to avoid infection. Early results have shown this is working.
While Rush to Brush is still in its nascent stages, the interim clinical outcome data is quite promising. Among members touched by our program in its first 6 months, we’ve observed a reduction of HAP by up to 30 percent. And the reach of the program is expanding, with more than 1,000 new patients being identified and supported each month.
The initiative has also been met with warm reception by patients. Of the members already engaged, 95 percent have positive feelings about the program and 70 percent reported that they took their kit with them to the hospital. Moreover, only 40 percent of patients surveyed shared that their hospital had provided oral hygiene products during their stay, suggesting that Rush to Brush is helping support an often-overlooked issue and allowing patients to feel recognized, acknowledged and cared for. These kits don’t just help abate the physical repercussions of HAP, they also have an overall impact on people’s mental and emotional wellbeing – all helping patients remain healthy on a holistic level.
As the healthcare industry moves toward a data-driven world, innovators and executives must consistently harness and use this data in meaningful ways for patients. Doing so is intrinsically valuable and increasingly essential for delivering a more personalized, connected and accessible patient care experience.
The Rush to Brush program has already demonstrated the power of using data to address a historically challenging problem through a surprisingly simple solution. But this is merely scratching the surface of possibilities. As a new decade approaches, one can’t help but be excited about what future data-driven prospects are yet to be discovered, and the limitless ways it can transform patient care.
Daniel Knecht, M.D., is the vice president of health strategy and innovation at CVS Health
