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New Book Highlights Cincinnati Collaboration
 Health care transformation success in Greater Cincinnati is featured in a new book called Bridging the Value Gap by Chuck Reynolds and Jack Nightingale. The authors looked nationwide for health care success stories featuring cost and quality trending in a positive direction. They found a compelling story in Cincinnati and the ability of the Health Collaborative to bring all the major stakeholders together to formulate a strategy. The authors also cited the business community's active involvement in transformation, the willingness of the health plans to provide data and trying new reimbursement models and the provider's commitment to Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) transformation, quality improvement and transparency.
The authors were also greatly impressed with the consumer research being done by the Health Collaborative to understand how patients respond to new initiatives around cost and quality. This patient focused work is rapidly becoming a national resource for understanding how to communicate with patients and engage them as responsible consumers of health care resources.
The book is published and distributed by Johnson and Johnson Health Care Systems Inc. and is available in limited quantities online at BridgingtheValueGap.com. |
| Health Plans Contribute in a New Way
The Health Collaborative has received pledges totaling $90-thousand dollars from the three largest Cincinnati area health insurers. Humana, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare each pledged money towards the continued operation of the Health Collaborative for 2011. While insurance providers have been active participants in the programs of the Health Collaborative, this unprecedented level of infrastructure support is a demonstration of their commitment to the sustainability of the collaborative approach to transformation.
"As a multi-stakeholder organization it is very significant to us that we now have operating support from the insurance industry," said Greg Ebel, Executive Director of the Health Collaborative. "The insurers play an important role in the initiatives we advance and this confirms their commitment to our work and to the continued progress of health care transformation."
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Pfizer Gift to Support Practice Resources
The Health Collaborative is pleased to announce Pfizer Inc. has made a $100,000 dollar gift to the Health Collaborative. The money will be used for projects designed to help primary care practice groups improve the quality of patient care, including analytical tools to better measure the impact of treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The gift comes as the Health Collaborative is developing its first series of process and measurement tools related to NCQA 2011 standards for PCMH Recognition. "As we work closely with the practices on quality improvement, we see that physicians in Cincinnati are hungry for new ways to measure and chart their progress on their improvement journey," said Roni Christopher, Director of QI and Practice Improvement at the Health collaborative. The first QI tools developed by the Health Collaborative were met with heavy demand. Some of the new tools in development include an on demand, real time data report on D5 clinical outcomes and a dry-erase markable 2011 standards chart. |
Collaborative to Support Two New Programs
The Health Collaborative is pleased to be participating in two new health care improvement initiatives set to kickoff in early 2012. 
Text for Health is a program lead by the Hamilton County Department of Health as part of the Beacon Communities Initiative. Patients with diabetes, or at risk for diabetes, are invited to subscribe to this interactive text service. Subscribers fill out a health profile and based on their responses they receive customized reminders and motivational messages about diet, exercise, and health maintenance. The Health Collaborative will be working with primary care physicians to coordinate physician participation in the program.
Greater Cincinnati has been selected by the Federal Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to participate in the Community-based Care Transitions project of the Partnership for Patients initiative. This program is designed to improve the rate of successful patient transitions from hospital to home. The program is expected to serve nearly 5,400 senior citizens per year with better coordination and monitoring of post hospital care. Test results show the program contributes to faster, fuller recoveries for seniors and reduces the rate of avoidable re-admissions. The anticipated savings to Medicare as a result of fewer return visits to the hospital is expected to top $1 million dollars annually. The Southwest Ohio Council on Aging is leading the team effort. The Health Collaborative will be assisting by using its physician education and support expertise to engage primary care doctors in strategies to monitor and manage post hospital care. |
| Leadership Dinner Honors Six
The 2011 Celebration of Collaborative Leadership enjoyed the deepest and broadest support ever for the Health Collaborative with 46 sponsors contributing over $175,000 dollars. Nearly 450 people attended the November 3rd event at The Westin Presidential Ballroom. Acclaimed business writer Chip Heath addressed the crowd with an entertaining talk about inspiring change.
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Greg Ebel, Phil Diller, MD, Judith Warren, Richard Shonk, Ph.D, MD, Tom Finn, Eddie Hooker, MD, Jane Crowley, Craig Eisentrout, MD
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Volunteers honored for their contributions to health care transformation were Tom Finn, The Procter and Gamble Company, Dr. Eddie Hooker, Xavier University, Judith Warren, Health Care Access Now, Dr. Richard Shonk, UnitedHealthcare, Bethesda Inc., and University of Cincinnati Medical School Department of Family and Community Medicine.
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Co-Chairs Named to the Consumer Council
Geneva Miller and Lisa Sloane have been named Co-Chairs of the Health Collaborative's Consumer Council. Ms. Miller is an associate to the Sr. VP for Academic Affairs & Provost at University of Cincinnati. She is also active in her church and community. Ms. Sloane is an independent business woman who has contributed her project management and communication skills to a number of health care transformation initiatives. The 16-member Council meets monthly to review and discuss health care transformation issues that impact patients. Council members will be asked to take seats and provide patient perspective on a number of the advisory boards that contribute to the work of the Health Collaborative. |
| Honors and Awards
Two members of the Health Collaborative staff have been selected as finalists for the Health Care Heroes recognition awarded by the Cincinnati Business Courier. Executive Director of the Health Collaborative, Greg Ebel, was selected in the Innovator category. Medical Director Barb Tobias, MD was chosen as a finalist in the Manager category.
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Barbara Tobias, MD
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Greg Ebel
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The The Health Collaborative is proud to have been selected as a finalist in the Best Places to Work competition held annually by the Cincinnati Business Courier. Executive Director Greg Ebel accepted the award at a celebration November 3rd at Duke Energy Center.
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| New Faces
The Health Collaborative welcomes two new project managers to its improvement team.
Gina Carney joins us from the United Way and the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard Medical School.
 Tim Salvage, MPH, MS brings his experience as a project specialist at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital Medical Center. |
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