The power of collaboration: How two organizations worked together to improve processes and lives
Introduction
Seeking to revolutionize its clinical documentation and coding processes, HMHN partnered with Solventum to enhance documentation accuracy, improve coding precision and strengthen cross-departmental coordination. Achieving improved patient care and organizational performance was only part of the goal, however. Being able to maintain the efficiencies and continue to improve on them was a priority.
The challenge
Like many health care networks, HMHN has the complex task of ensuring patient records accurately reflect the severity of illness (SOI) and quality of care provided. Before collaborating with Solventum, numerous documentation and coding hurdles affected HMHN’s financial performance and quality metrics accuracy. HMHN’s Medicare case mix index (CMI) had decreased from the previous year and query rates were falling below industry best practice. In addition, HMHN was inadequately capturing major complications and comorbidities (MCC) data and had inconsistent documentation of complex cardiology conditions. These issues not only resulted in missed revenue opportunities but threatened the accuracy of the quality reporting and patient care evaluations.
The solution
The approach for improving HMHN’s clinical documentation integrity (CDI) consisted of two key factors: Interdisciplinary collaboration and data-driven analysis.
First things first. Technology is only as successful as a team’s communication. That’s why before implementing any changes, the team established an interdisciplinary collaboration within HMHN, bringing together CDI, coding, physician, nursing and quality professionals to create a unified front in addressing documentation gaps.
While meeting, the team determined that the complexity of cardiology documentation was a central challenge for HMHN. The organization needed consistency across all departments, so, Solventum helped HMHN develop a set of standardized cardiology definitions. The team implemented a real time communication process for cardiology advanced practice nurses (APN) and CDI teams to review conflicting documentation in real time so that discrepancies could be quickly identified and promptly corrected.
To further enhance accuracy, Solventum helped HMHN develop a retrospective query system for attending physicians to defer documentation queries to other providers. This helped reduce documentation errors and ensure all relevant information was captured from the beginning.
Throughout the implementation process, data analytics played a critical role in identifying gaps and tracking progress. These insights allowed Solventum and HMHN to continually refine and adjust strategy as needed, based upon real time performance data.
Continued commitment
Solventum and HMHN’s partnership didn’t end once implementation concluded. Recognizing that education is key to sustaining success, Solventum collaborated with HMHN to determine what kind of continuing education would best support their organization.
As a result, the team organized weekly webinars to deliver software training and share current best practices. HMHN coordinated physician-to-physician sessions to help support specialists across multiple departments, and Solventum experts shared CDI tips monthly to further bolster accurate coding practices on topics such as malnutrition, body mass index (BMI) and electrolyte documentation.
Conclusion
Solventum and HMHN’s partnership is a testament to how working together can help drive meaningful change. By combining innovative technology, expert consulting and a commitment to continuous improvement, HMHN was able to enhance its documentation and coding practices. But the work hasn’t stopped there. Through continued education and annual goalsetting, HMHN continues to pave the way for better, smarter, safer healthcare.