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In This Issue
A Recipe for Success
How Did I End Up Here? The Tale of Green Chile Gone Wrong
Spotlight on Innovation: Where Are They Now? Cardiac and Stroke Care for Southwest Colorado
CO APCD Data in Action: Dental Emergency Department Utilization
CIVHC Represented on Board of National Data Organization
Articles of Interest
A Recipe for Success
By Ana English, President and CEO, CIVHC
Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching which brings to mind all the things I'm grateful for - including some amazing family recipes. Each ingredient on its own is unique and important, but when you put them together it can be downright magical. We talk a lot about the power of organizational collaboration in Colorado in the same vein, but the same can be true when combining data sources.

Colorado comes from a position of strength when it comes to access to health care data. Multiple public sources exist thanks to forward thinking leaders across government agencies, foundations and organizations. Each source of information is great on its own, but what if we did more to deliberately combine these sources? 
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How Did I End Up Here? The Tale of Green Chile Gone Wrong
Guest Blog by Matt Guy, Managing Director, Pueblo Triple Aim Corporation
I'm sure I'm not the only person to wind up in the emergency room asking this question.  I definitely know I'm not the only person to start out with a minor health issue that turned into a major problem. How my health status moved from a minor to a major problem is a story of how the Triple Aim wasn't well implemented in my life.
Spotlight on Innovation: Where Are They Now? Cardiac and Stroke Care for Southwest Colorado and Pagosa Springs Medical Center
By Stephanie Spriggs, Grant Writer and Report Specialist, CIVHC
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In 2012, CIVHC reported that the Upper San Juan Health Service District (Pagosa Springs Medical Center) received a three-year, $1.7 million award from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. We recently followed up on the outcomes of the project.

Life-threatening conditions are especially terrifying when distance and terrain separate patients from treatment. Archuleta County is nearly 50% wilderness with the San Juan National Forest taking up much of the 1355 square miles from border to border. In 2012,  Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded Pagosa Springs Medical Center (PSMC) one of the first Health Care Innovation Awards to help address the difficulties of providing acute cardiac care in rural areas.
CO APCD Data in Action: Dental Emergency Department Utilization
Recent trends indicate that emergency department (ED) utilization for non-emergent dental concerns are on the rise across the nation. In most cases, the ED providers do not administer dental treatment; they write prescriptions for antibiotics or pain management.

A Colorado non-profit organization is using CO APCD data to help create a strategy to refer these non-emergent dental ED patients to oral health clinics. Since adults in Colorado are now eligible for dental coverage via Medicaid, additional avenues are available for cost-effective oral health treatment. The study, once complete, will potentially identify new cost-savings strategies in the dental care marketplace.
CIVHC VP of Research & Compliance Appointed to Board of National Data Organization
CIVHC is pleased to announce that Jonathan Mathieu, Ph.D., CIVHC Vice President of Research and Compliance and Chief Economist, was elected to the National Association of Health Data Organizations' (NAHDO) board of directors at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C. last month.

NAHDO is a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to improving health care through the collection, analysis, dissemination, public availability, and use of health data. As a member of the board, Dr. Mathieu will help the non-profit drive towards improving the collection and use of health care data across the country. Dr. Mathieu was selected as a board member for his leadership in developing and advancing the use of Colorado's All Payer Claims Database both in Colorado and across the U.S. to achieve the Triple Aim of better health, better care and lower cost.
Cost Driver Spot Analysis: Colorado Could Save Millions by Avoiding the Emergency Room for Routine Conditions
New analysis based on claims from the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) shows Coloradans visiting the emergency room (ER) for common health concerns are paying more for care.

Analysis of commercial health payer claims data in the CO APCD shows that Colorado could save an average of $1,150 per visit and over $800 million annually if patients used a clinic or doctor's office for non-emergent situations.