Real-Time Care Coordination across Arizona

The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association’s partnership earlier this year with PatientPing, the nation’s most comprehensive care coordination platform, was part of its efforts to improve patient care outcomes across the State of Arizona. The statewide partnership, coordinated through AzHHA’s Affiliated Partners Program, connects all AzHHA’s member hospitals and participating providers. Participants have access to real-time patient information and insights from care events across the entire continuum, enabling more seamless care transitions and overall improved care quality.

When providers don’t share information, patient safety suffers. Patients wind up being put through duplicate or unnecessary procedures, receive harmful prescriptions, are placed in an inappropriate care setting, or worse. High-risk patients may fall through the cracks after hospital discharge because nobody is following up on their care. When that happens, their health may worsen and they may have to be readmitted to the hospital.

Thanks to the partnership with Boston-based PatientPing, AzHHA member providers can have answers to critical questions such as “Has my patient been discharged?” and “Where is my patient now?” Equipped with that knowledge, PCPs can make sure that high-risk patients visit them as soon as possible and can monitor their care following discharge. By cooperating with outpatient providers to reduce readmission rates, hospitals can reduce or avert Medicare penalties.

AzHHA is leveraging PatientPing as part of its participation in the Partnership for Patients (PfP) program, a CMS-backed initiative aimed at reducing national, all-cause patient harm rates by 20 percent and 30-day readmissions by 12 percent. The program is integrated with more than 4,000 hospitals across 16 Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks, all of which are working toward continued harm reduction and improved outcomes for patients.

Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association
Now in its 80th year, AzHHA is the statewide association giving Arizona hospitals a voice to collectively build better healthcare and health for Arizonans. As the champion for healthcare leadership in Arizona, AzHHA and its member hospitals explore ideas and take collaborative action at the state capitol, in hospitals and at home to attain the best healthcare outcomes for Arizonans.

PatientPing
PatientPing is a Boston-based care coordination platform that reduces the cost of healthcare by seamlessly connecting providers to coordinate patient care. The platform allows providers to collaborate on shared patients through Pings (real-time notifications when patients receive care) and Stories (important patient context at the point of care), and allows provider organizations, payers, governments, individuals and the organizations supporting them to leverage this real-time data to reach their shared goals of improving the efficiency of our healthcare system.

In addition to AzHHA, PatientPing has also partnered with several leading health systems in Arizona, including Innovation Care Partners, affiliated with HonorHealth, which serves an area of 1.6 million people across the greater Phoenix area. PatientPing’s national network includes thousands of hospitals, health information exchanges, health plans, providers, and other entities, all of which are working together to collaborate on their shared patients, improve care outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.