Page 13 - Christiana Care Focus October 2018

“Until we make it OK for physicians to be a little bit not OK, it will Rbe hard to get them to open up,” she said.
ecognizing symptoms in one’s own colleagues can be difficult, in part because of cultural and professional norms, Dr. Tailor said. Even when physicians notice a problem, their response can be constrained by the
business-driven nature of modern medicine, he said.
Dr. Brown agreed, adding that, while conversations like these are a good start, there’s still a lack of cultural permission in health care to reveal one’s struggles.
eBrightHealth ACO celebrates two consecutive years of
reducing costs
Achieves Delaware’s highest ACO Quality Score in 2017
By helping participating clinicians and health systems proactively and collaboratively fo- cus on clinical best practices, transitions of care and utilization of community resources, eBrightHealth ACO, an accountable care organization (ACO), has improved quality of care and achieved costs savings of nearly $2 million for 50,000 regional Medicare ben- eficiaries in its first two years of operation.
According to 2017 financial and quality performance results recently released by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Shared Savings Program, eBrightHealth ACO reduced health care spending by $880,000 in 2017, building upon savings of $860,000 in the ACO’s
first year. eBrightHealth ACO — which brings together more than 1,200 primary and specialty care clinicians from five regional health systems, including Atlantic General Hospital, Bayhealth, Beebe Healthcare, Christiana Care Health System and Nanticoke Health Services, as well as two federally qualified health centers and 15 private primary care practices — also earned the highest overall Quality Score in Delaware with high scores in all quality domains.
| Center for Provider Wellbeing
As an emergency department doctor for 16 years, Dr. Farley has seen how showing empathy to patients means sharing a piece of their trauma. It’s natural for this pain, along with the other frustrations of modern medicine, to take a toll.
Because these struggles are predictable, forward-thinking health systems must create an environment that supports providers and promotes well-being and professional fulfillment, she said.
“We still have a long way to go, but we are finally starting to have ... conversations that lead to real improvement in the health and well- being of our providers,” she said. 
“The success is the result of diligent partnership by a dedicated group of clinicians and health system partners,” said Christine Donohue-Henry, M.D.,
MBA, president and chief executive officer of eBrightHealth ACO. “Together, these transformative caregivers are implementing and refining initiatives that promote improved health and quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries.”
eBrightHealth ACO helps clinicians address clinical, behavioral, social and other needs of Medicare beneficiaries to improve their access to primary care office visits, prevent unnecessary emergency department visits and decrease the amount of time they spend in hospitals. The result is improved quality
of life for their patients and reduced health care spending.
This year and next, Dr. Donohue-Henry said an important focus for the ACO is to continue to help Medicare beneficiaries choose
the appropriate level of care from both a quality and cost perspective by helping them understand when to see their primary care provider or to seek care from a medical aid unit or emergency department. The ACO
is also encouraging beneficiaries to take advantage of the Annual Wellness Visit, an important but less-familiar yearly Medicare benefit in which they meet with their primary care provider to create or update a personal- ized prevention plan.
eBrightHealth ACO serves approximately 50,000 Medicare beneficiaries from Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Care coordination is provided by Christiana Care Health System’s award-winning care coordination program, Carelink CareNow.
“eBrightHealth ACO is steadfastly committed to continuing to improve our performance in the coming years,” said Dr. Donohue-Henry. “We will continue to work together to trans- form the care we deliver and the proactive outreach to community members to improve the health of our Medicare beneficiaries and reduce health care costs.” 
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