[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":4415,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"Health Data Management\u2019s Analytics All-Stars recognition program recognizes individuals and organizations advancing the use of analytics in healthcare. Three individuals and seven organizations are being recognized this year; links to short profiles of the winners can be found at the end of this article.<\/i>

The practice of medicine is catching up to the analytics that Clive Fields, MD, has sought to use for 25 years.

Approaches like value-based care and population health management are now taking hold, spurred by efforts to drastically alter incentives in paying for healthcare. Providers are realizing that the ability to analyze data will be the key to managing the swift changes now occurring in the treatment and management of patients.

Fields has long believed that having insufficient data on patients could affect the quality of their care. As president of Village Family Practice, a 40-physician group practice with several locations in the Houston area, he\u2019s incorporating that philosophy into the practice\u2019s operations.

Village Family Practice uses Fields\u2019 design for delivering analytics and data to the point of care as clinicians are treating patients. The combination has been potent in reducing costs; the practice Medicare data indicates that its readmission rates are at least 20 percent lower than those of other providers in the community, and the practice says Medicare also says its cost of treating patients are at least 20 percent less than other area providers.

Fields is extending his philosophy of using analytics in care through VillageMD, a practice management organization that he co-founded and for which he serves as chief medical officer. Working with some practices that now have a total of 500 physicians, VillageMD\u2019s philosophy is to put doctors in a position where they are at the center of patient care.

For his pioneering efforts, Fields has been chosen as the recipient of Health Data Management<\/i>\u2019s Clinical Visionary Award as part of its Analytics All-Stars recognition program.

The program recognizes organizations and individuals implementing analytics in innovative ways to improve the health of their patients and the financial performance of their organizations. Winners will be recognized at HDM<\/i>\u2019s Healthcare Analytics Symposium July 18 and 19 in Chicago.

Fields understands the relationship between the clinical and financial components of healthcare. His practice was one of the first to take on risk-based contracts, including the Medicare+Choice program in the late 1990s.

The years of experience in taking on risk-based contracts has grounded Fields and his practice in the value of using data in treating patients. It\u2019s a simple formula, he says\u2014just making sure that physicians have all of a patient\u2019s relevant data at the point of care to best manage patient risk.

Providers previously had limited data on which to base clinical decisions, typically the claims data that insurance companies were willing to share. But that\u2019s all changed.

\u201cWhen you talk about the amount of data that we have now, we have more data than we have the time or tools to use,\u201d he says. \u201cNow, the challenge is how can we deliver the appropriate data at the point of care so that we can have risk stratification at the point of contact.\u201d

The practice uses the NextGen EHR and uses Talix, data analytics technology that provides isnight into coding to proactively identify high-risk conditions. Giving care team members sufficient data during a patient encounter can help them identify gaps in care and preemptively treat patients\u2014for example, noticing that a patient is due for an immunization, which may be unrelated to the condition for which a clinician is treating the patient, he says.

Analytics are crucial in delivering improved care to patients, Fields believes.

Doctors who are not prepared to use analytics will face bigger challenges in adjusting to value-based care, he says. \u201cAs we move to team-based care, [without having] all relevant patient information, it will be hard to practice. There are things that can be driven only by analytics. We believe that we can better identify our high-risk patients with data; as professionals, our \u2018gut\u2019 is not as good as our \u2018gut\u2019 supported by analytics.\u201d

As the country moves to population health approaches, it will become more important for clinicians to have data so they can preserve patient wellness and anticipate potential illnesses so patients can receive treatment or information that prevents them from becoming sick in the first place.

\u201cGood data and good analytics can identify patients who need help,\u201d Fields says. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to sit around and wait for those patients to get sick and call us. The goal is to get out in front of people and prevent that.

\u201cWe\u2019re starting to see benefit plans line up more with the idea to help patients achieve wellness rather than to solve sickness,\u201d he adds. \u201cI think we can drive results that we have never seen before, and at a cost we\u2019ve never imagined before.\u201d

Population health is the next frontier for medicine, as the focus changes on how medical dollars need to be spent.

\u201cWe\u2019ve spent a lot of time investing in solutions [for rare conditions] that affect a small number of patients,\u201d Fields says. While research dollars continue to be devoted to achieving medical breakthroughs, the field of medicine is beginning to focus more attention on how to manage conditions that affect broad segments of the population, such as diabetes.

Physicians want to improve the care they provide to their patients and their practice of medicine, and they have a growing interest in learning how to use data and analytics to accomplish that, Fields contends.

\u201cWhen I talk to them, they are almost all driven by the same kind of motivation, which is to be a physician who can meet the majority of a patient\u2019s healthcare needs,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve never presented information to physicians who haven\u2019t asked for more data. We\u2019re not afraid to be measured; the last thing you want to know is that you didn\u2019t provide the kind of care that your peers did. At our practice, we present unblended, physician-labeled data\u2014there\u2019s no reason to hide that, and our physicians want to know it. I\u2019ve never seen a physician shy away from data.\u201d

\u201cFor years, primary care physicians have been underutilized and underappreciated,\u201d he says. \u201cVillageMD aims to empower physicians with an economic model that supports excellent, appropriate and evidence-based healthcare. We want support practices to be a friendly and caring environment. It\u2019s my passion\u2014for me, a great day is helping physician colleagues combine clinical expertise with patient analytics and team-based care to extend their impact. My goal is helping physicians spend time on what they do best, which is caring for patients.\u201d

Data will help transform the way physicians deliver care in the future, Fields believes.

\u201cTo deliver on a primary care-driven model, we\u2019re going to have to embrace and grow the data that\u2019s presented to us; without some help, it\u2019s difficult to use it,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ll see data and analytics become a bigger part of physicians\u2019 daily practice. What used to be a quarterly report from insurers on our care will become information that\u2019s available at the time of a patient visit, and it\u2019s becoming more clinically valuable.\u201d

Other honorees in the Analytics All-Stars recognition program include:<\/b>

Chief Information Officer Visionary: Myra Davis<\/a>

Chief Executive Officer Visionary: Penny Wheeler<\/a>

Project of the Year, Accountable Care: Mercy Hospital, St. Louis<\/a>

Project of the Year, Patient Safety: Children\u2019s Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee<\/a>

Project of the Year, Patient Safety: Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore<\/a>

Project of the Year, Population Health: Village Family Practice, Houston<\/a>

Project of the Year, Revenue Cycle: University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Mich.<\/a>

Project of the Year, Revenue Cycle: Northwell Health, Great Neck, N.Y.<\/a>
","saveContent":"Health Data Management\u2019s Analytics All-Stars recognition program recognizes individuals and organizations advancing the use of analytics in healthcare. Three individuals and seven organizations are being recognized this year; links to short profiles of the winners can be found at the end of this article.<\/i>

The practice of medicine is catching up to the analytics that Clive Fields, MD, has sought to use for 25 years.

Approaches like value-based care and population health management are now taking hold, spurred by efforts to drastically alter incentives in paying for healthcare. Providers are realizing that the ability to analyze data will be the key to managing the swift changes now occurring in the treatment and management of patients.

Fields has long believed that having insufficient data on patients could affect the quality of their care. As president of Village Family Practice, a 40-physician group practice with several locations in the Houston area, he\u2019s incorporating that philosophy into the practice\u2019s operations.

Village Family Practice uses Fields\u2019 design for delivering analytics and data to the point of care as clinicians are treating patients. The combination has been potent in reducing costs; the practice Medicare data indicates that its readmission rates are at least 20 percent lower than those of other providers in the community, and the practice says Medicare also says its cost of treating patients are at least 20 percent less than other area providers.

Fields is extending his philosophy of using analytics in care through VillageMD, a practice management organization that he co-founded and for which he serves as chief medical officer. Working with some practices that now have a total of 500 physicians, VillageMD\u2019s philosophy is to put doctors in a position where they are at the center of patient care.

For his pioneering efforts, Fields has been chosen as the recipient of Health Data Management<\/i>\u2019s Clinical Visionary Award as part of its Analytics All-Stars recognition program.

The program recognizes organizations and individuals implementing analytics in innovative ways to improve the health of their patients and the financial performance of their organizations. Winners will be recognized at HDM<\/i>\u2019s Healthcare Analytics Symposium July 18 and 19 in Chicago.

Fields understands the relationship between the clinical and financial components of healthcare. His practice was one of the first to take on risk-based contracts, including the Medicare+Choice program in the late 1990s.

The years of experience in taking on risk-based contracts has grounded Fields and his practice in the value of using data in treating patients. It\u2019s a simple formula, he says\u2014just making sure that physicians have all of a patient\u2019s relevant data at the point of care to best manage patient risk.

Providers previously had limited data on which to base clinical decisions, typically the claims data that insurance companies were willing to share. But that\u2019s all changed.

\u201cWhen you talk about the amount of data that we have now, we have more data than we have the time or tools to use,\u201d he says. \u201cNow, the challenge is how can we deliver the appropriate data at the point of care so that we can have risk stratification at the point of contact.\u201d

The practice uses the NextGen EHR and uses Talix, data analytics technology that provides isnight into coding to proactively identify high-risk conditions. Giving care team members sufficient data during a patient encounter can help them identify gaps in care and preemptively treat patients\u2014for example, noticing that a patient is due for an immunization, which may be unrelated to the condition for which a clinician is treating the patient, he says.

Analytics are crucial in delivering improved care to patients, Fields believes.

Doctors who are not prepared to use analytics will face bigger challenges in adjusting to value-based care, he says. \u201cAs we move to team-based care, [without having] all relevant patient information, it will be hard to practice. There are things that can be driven only by analytics. We believe that we can better identify our high-risk patients with data; as professionals, our \u2018gut\u2019 is not as good as our \u2018gut\u2019 supported by analytics.\u201d

As the country moves to population health approaches, it will become more important for clinicians to have data so they can preserve patient wellness and anticipate potential illnesses so patients can receive treatment or information that prevents them from becoming sick in the first place.

\u201cGood data and good analytics can identify patients who need help,\u201d Fields says. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to sit around and wait for those patients to get sick and call us. The goal is to get out in front of people and prevent that.

\u201cWe\u2019re starting to see benefit plans line up more with the idea to help patients achieve wellness rather than to solve sickness,\u201d he adds. \u201cI think we can drive results that we have never seen before, and at a cost we\u2019ve never imagined before.\u201d

Population health is the next frontier for medicine, as the focus changes on how medical dollars need to be spent.

\u201cWe\u2019ve spent a lot of time investing in solutions [for rare conditions] that affect a small number of patients,\u201d Fields says. While research dollars continue to be devoted to achieving medical breakthroughs, the field of medicine is beginning to focus more attention on how to manage conditions that affect broad segments of the population, such as diabetes.

Physicians want to improve the care they provide to their patients and their practice of medicine, and they have a growing interest in learning how to use data and analytics to accomplish that, Fields contends.

\u201cWhen I talk to them, they are almost all driven by the same kind of motivation, which is to be a physician who can meet the majority of a patient\u2019s healthcare needs,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve never presented information to physicians who haven\u2019t asked for more data. We\u2019re not afraid to be measured; the last thing you want to know is that you didn\u2019t provide the kind of care that your peers did. At our practice, we present unblended, physician-labeled data\u2014there\u2019s no reason to hide that, and our physicians want to know it. I\u2019ve never seen a physician shy away from data.\u201d

\u201cFor years, primary care physicians have been underutilized and underappreciated,\u201d he says. \u201cVillageMD aims to empower physicians with an economic model that supports excellent, appropriate and evidence-based healthcare. We want support practices to be a friendly and caring environment. It\u2019s my passion\u2014for me, a great day is helping physician colleagues combine clinical expertise with patient analytics and team-based care to extend their impact. My goal is helping physicians spend time on what they do best, which is caring for patients.\u201d

Data will help transform the way physicians deliver care in the future, Fields believes.

\u201cTo deliver on a primary care-driven model, we\u2019re going to have to embrace and grow the data that\u2019s presented to us; without some help, it\u2019s difficult to use it,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ll see data and analytics become a bigger part of physicians\u2019 daily practice. What used to be a quarterly report from insurers on our care will become information that\u2019s available at the time of a patient visit, and it\u2019s becoming more clinically valuable.\u201d

Other honorees in the Analytics All-Stars recognition program include:<\/b>

Chief Information Officer Visionary: Myra Davis<\/a>

Chief Executive Officer Visionary: Penny Wheeler<\/a>

Project of the Year, Accountable Care: Mercy Hospital, St. Louis<\/a>

Project of the Year, Patient Safety: Children\u2019s Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee<\/a>

Project of the Year, Patient Safety: Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore<\/a>

Project of the Year, Population Health: Village Family Practice, Houston<\/a>

Project of the Year, Revenue Cycle: University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Mich.<\/a>

Project of the Year, Revenue Cycle: Northwell Health, Great Neck, N.Y.<\/a>
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How Analytics All-Star Clive Fields is improving patient care

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