HOW IT WORKS

The service provides evaluation of patient readmission patterns across the region, regardless of which hospital is accessed by a patient. Using the proprietary matching algorithm, 7,364,432 inpatient records admitted from 2003 - 2008 have been processed and made available for patient safety and quality analysis by participating hospitals of the DFWHC Foundation. 

The evaluations are provided as reports. These reports are generated through an IBM-based business intelligence tool, Cognos.  The IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence delivers the complete range of BI capabilities on a single, service-oriented architecture (SOA). Author, share, and use reports that draw on data across all enterprise sources for better business decisions.

“Our data warehouse, offers more than 10 years of data,” said Kristin Jenkins, president of the DFWHC Foundation. “The ‘mining’ capabilities combined with the services REMPI offers will result in better healthcare.”

The service complies with HIPAA and Texas state requirements for privacy and security of patients’ protected health information.

RESEARCH

Research and the ability to link readmissions will be an important utilization of the REMPI service.

“When considering the possibilities of the service and the depth of the regional data warehouse, REMPI can inform new research for epidemiologic and public health purposes,” Dr. Mari Tietze, director of Nursing Research and Informatics for DFWHC Foundation said. “If more hospitals participate, we can continue to develop the research opportunities as the data expands. It will also allow us to better understand disparities.”

The Foundation is considering funded research opportunities.

FUTURE

Outpatient information such as emergency department, ambulatory surgery, observation and imaging encounters will be phased into the matches over the next four quarters. REMPI could also be utilized as a patient record linking methodology of both inpatient and outpatient claims for a Regional Healthcare Information Exchange.

“REMPI exemplifies the mission of the DFWHC Foundation to continually improve the community’s health by supporting safe, cost effective and equitable healthcare through education,” said Jenkins. “In fact, the service could be used for process improvement, care coordination and reducing healthcare costs. Based upon the increased national focus on rehospitalization, this service provides substantial value for planning and improvement purposes for hospitals. When you consider the importance of a Healthcare Information Exchange, we believe we have been able to provide an important tool. REMPI will evolve. It’s important to continue to improve the abilities of this service so we can further understand and improve healthcare in North Texas.”

INFORMATION

Companies interested in research projects and hospitals interested in learning more about participating in the Information and Quality Services Center should contact the DFWHC Foundation at 972.719.4900 or email foundation-information@dfwhc.org.