HC4HR: How a Safety Net Hospital Unleashed the Power of Health IT

The story we are about to tell you is probably not what automatically comes to mind when you hear "safety-net hospital."

On Monday, we continued our series of posts on the Health CEOs for Health Reform by looking at how more integrated models of care can deliver higher quality at lower costs.

Today, we'll see how Denver Health -- an urban safety net institution for Denver and the Rocky Mountain Region -- has established a highly integrated system that consistently delivers high-value care to vulnerable population. Health IT and electronic medical records are key to their success, as Patricia Gabow, MD, Denver Health's CEO explains in the video below:

Denver Health is a complex system providing a whole host of services. Just to name a few, there's the 911 ambulance and trauma system; a Disproportionate Share Hospital (the busiest hospital in Colorado); eight federally qualified health centers; the county public health department; 12 school-based clinics; as well as an HMO which serves Medicaid, SCHIP, Medicare and commercial patients. And, as Dr. Gabow will tell you, what makes all these moving parts work together for Denver Health is the commitment to health IT. Their imaged, electronic medical record ties it all together. It lets doctors communicate with doctors -- for example, a doctor in the ER can easily bring up a list of all the medications an unconscious patient's primary care physician has prescribed.  It helps doctors communicate with patients, developing treatment plans and following up on adherence.

Health IT has helped Denver Health manage complex chronic diseases, like diabetes or asthma. As Dr. Gabow noted, 61 percent of their hypertensive patients have their blood pressure under control compared to a national average of 34 percent. Denver Health has 92 percent of its one-year-old patients fully immunized. Furthermore, consistent and constructive use of health IT has enabled Denver Health to eliminate ethnic disparities in areas like cancer screenings and diabetes management.

What makes this all the more impressive, is that Denver Health is a true safety-net institution. It serves 150,000 patients annually, of which 78 percent are minorities, 50 percent are uninsured, and 85 percent are below 185 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. Since 1991, it has provided $3.4 billion in uncompensated care for the uninsured -- with $360 million in uncompensated care projected this year. Yet each year they manage to stay profitable, by providing high-value care in an integrated system. If Denver Health can do it, so can we.