CARE-NET: CAREGIVER ADVOCACY

Georgia Scores Low on Health System Scorecard
Rosalynn Carter Institute Provides Training for Improved Health Care

The US and the state of Georgia fall short of benchmarks in health system performance, according to a recent report. The Commonwealth Fund Commission released the 2008 edition of its Health System Scorecard recently, and the measures look bleak for the nation and the state of Georgia.

According to the report, Why Not The Best? Results from the National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2008, the U.S. scored an average of 65 out of a possible 100 across 37 indicators of health outcomes, quality, access, efficiency, and equity.

In The Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard, Georgia ranked 42^nd out of 51. The scorecard measured health system performance of 50 states and the District of Columbia, using 32 key indicators: access, quality, potentially avoidable use of hospitals and cost of care, equity and healthy lives.

While Georgia scored a low performance in many areas, indicators show that Georgia patients are especially vulnerable in situations of care transitions (moving from hospital to home, or hospital to nursing home.) In Georgia, the study found that 18.1% of all hospital admissions fall into the category of “Medicare 30-Day Hospital Re-admissions.” And 14% of all nursing home residents in Georgia are readmitted to a hospital within 3 months of a previous admission. In a nutshell, this means that when Medicare patients have been admitted and later discharged from the hospital, they are very, very likely to be readmitted within a short period of time.

The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving (RCI), in cooperation with Georgia’s CARE-NETs, is helping Georgia’s Medicare population become less vulnerable when they are in care transition situations. A study by Dr. Eric Coleman at the University of Colorado Denver has proven many hospital readmissions could be avoided if patients and their caregivers were better prepared during care transitions.

RCI Trains Care Transition Coaches

Recently, 25 Georgians were trained to serve as Care Transition Coaches at a training session in Athens, which was led by Dr. Coleman and colleagues. The Care Transitions Intervention is an Evidence-Based program designed to empower patients and caregivers to effectively manage transitions between care settings. The training was sponsored by RCI and CARE-NETS as part of the Georgia Coalition for Caregiver Health. The training was funded by a grant from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation.

“We’re aiming for systems change in Georgia,” said Dr. Richard Birkel, Executive Director of the RCI. “Our goal is that this intervention become a common practice upon hospital discharge for a certain population of patients.”

Out of these 25 individuals trained as Care Transition Coaches, a smaller group will participate in more extensive training to become Master Trainers, eligible to conduct training sessions throughout the state. The implementation of Care Transitions on a widespread basis could eliminate many unnecessary hospital readmissions and save hundreds of thousands of dollars in health care costs. Read more about the program at www.caretransitions.org. If your organization would like to receive training on the Care Transitions Intervention, contact Amy Tribble, RCI’s Director of State Initiatives.

The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that aims to promote a high performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency. Visit their website to view the national and state scorecards: www.commonwealthfund.org.