December 6, 2010 – The American College of Cardiology (ACC) has partnered with Philips Healthcare on a new Hospital to Home (H2H) Learning Destination that will show how to improve the continuum of care. It will be featured at the ACC’s 60th Annual Expo in New Orleans.
”Gaps in communication between cardiovascular professionals and the lack of interoperability between health IT systems make it very difficult for providers to deliver high-quality, patient-centered, coordinated care,” said ACC President Ralph Brindis, M.D., MPH, FACC. “Our partnership with Philips to create this interactive, educational exhibit will demonstrate best practices for reducing hospital re-admissions as well as improving the quality of life for cardiac patients and their caregivers through engagement of providers, patients and caregivers at each point along the care continuum.”
More than 20 percent of patients with heart failure or acute myocardial infarction are re-admitted back into the hospital within 30 days of their release. Many re-admissions are preventable through system improvements in a variety of areas. According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, “hospital readmissions are frequent and costly events which researchers suggest can be reduced by systemic changes to the health care system, including improved transition planning, quick follow-up care, and persistent treatment of chronic illnesses.”
The H2H Learning Destination will be a multi-vendor educational exhibit that will highlight ways collaboration, better communication and the innovative use of technology can improve the transition from inpatient to outpatient status. It will also feature a theater with live presentations from medical professionals, healthcare economists, healthcare administrators and public health education specialists.
“The H2H Learning Destination complements what the College has been doing over the last several years to help cardiovascular professionals put evidence-based guidelines and Appropriate Use Criteria to work in their practice,” said Harlan Krumholz, M.D., FACC. “ACC.11 attendees will be able to witness first-hand some of the options for reducing costly, cardiovascular-related hospital readmissions – an issue the College has made a priority through its own H2H initiative.”
For more information: www.accscientificsession.org