Freeman Health System wins 2014 Truven Health Advantage Award for Overall Performance

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May 8 2014Truven Health Analytics

Mike Boswood, president and CEO of Truven Health Analytics^TM presented the 2014 Truven Health Advantage Award for Overall Performance to Freeman Health System, a not-for-profit, three-hospital system in Joplin, Missouri. The award was presented on April 30, 2014, during the annual gathering of Truven Health Analytics customers, the Advantage Conference, in Orlando, Florida. The Advantage Awards recognize hospitals, health plans, government agencies, and employers that use data analytics to improve the quality of care and business results.

Freeman Health System was honored for its innovative use of Truven Health's Micromedex® 360 Care Insights, a real-time, enterprise-wide clinical surveillance solution that utilizes multiple data sources to inform staff when a patient meets a combination of high-risk criteria that indicates that he or she is a good candidate for an intervention. Freeman initially purchased the system to manage pharmacy interventions specific to cost and care management risks, such as adverse drug events (ADEs) and switching patients from IV antibiotic to oral antibiotic. It was, however, the innovative use at an enterprise level that Freeman was rewarded for, having derived a patient-specific surveillance profile to help them prevent complications that stem from malnutrition within its inpatient population.

"Freeman Health recognized and seized an opportunity to apply the real-time clinical data and analytics available from our solution to solve a widespread problem," said Mike Boswood, president and CEO of Truven Health Analytics. "As a result, they reached a new level of efficiency, improving quality of care while saving time and revenue through increased reimbursements."

As many as half of hospitalized adult patients are malnourished and malnutrition puts patients at greater risk for complications and infections, injury due to falling, and longer hospital stays - all of which contribute to greater healthcare costs. To combat this, Freeman used 360 Care Insights to identify which patients had early warning signs of malnutrition and then applied evidence-based guidelines within the product to treat the problem, ultimately ensuring better outcomes.

"Previously, even when we identified a malnourished patient, it was typically not caught in real-time, while the patient was still in the hospital and could have been addressed by their physician," said Scott Goade, Pharm D, BCNSP with the Freeman Health System Metabolic Support Service. "Now, these patients are identified and presented proactively on a daily basis so they can be treated promptly."

"The project at Freeman Health has massive clinical implications for these vulnerable and easily overlooked patients," said Kathy VanEnkevort, vice president, clinical solutions at Truven Health and a member of the Advantage Award judges' panel. "It is rewarding to bring our solutions and tools to customers like Freeman, whose innovative application can inspire others to tackle the hard challenges of healthcare today."

In addition to the overall winner, Truven Health Advantage Awards were presented to hospitals, health plans, government agencies, and employers in three categories: