How Holland Hospital Uses Data to Drive Change With Measurable Results

How Holland Hospital Uses Data to Drive Change With Measurable Results

When you’re using data to drive change, “everybody wins, especially the patient.”

Nobody knows that better than Kristie Dennett, Orthopedic Service Line Coordinator for Holland Hospital in Holland, Michigan.

In operation for 100 years, Holland Hospital is certainly no stranger to success. HealthGrades has recognized it as one of the country’s 50 best hospitals three years in a row and even has a five-star rating from CMS, among a litany of other awards and accolades.

PRO Collection

In order to stay ahead of the curve, Dennett’s Orthopedic Service Line began collecting patient-reported outcomes (PRO) six years ago for joint replacement patients. Back then, Holland Hospital collected PROs, in-clinic, using iPads. Turns out, this wasn’t the best way to collect PROs, as their capture rate hovered around a mere 12 percent.

While the team at Holland Hospital thought they were doing a good job engaging surgeons and medical assistants (who were the ones responsible for collecting and administering the surveys) with the PRO process, it was clear that it was time to start filling those gaps.

“We learned from that and said, ‘What can we do to do a better job with this?’ and started looking at what else was available,” said Dennett.

That’s where CODE comes in. Around a year ago CODE took over Holland’s PRO collection and became their personal outcomes team. So, what has Holland done with this data to drive effective change?

Using Data to Drive Change

Holland has used data to be a “leveling force,” specifically with the use of tranexamic acid to decrease bleeding in surgery. “When we first started reading that information we said, “This is something we’d really like to try,” says Dennett.

But trying is easier said than done. There was immediate pushback from the pharmacy for its off-label use, and anesthesia wasn’t comfortable with its risks, as they knew nothing about it. After much research to build their case, Holland was approved to try tranexamic acid in a limited number of cases. The next step was to observe, report, and share the data.

Measurable Results

The results are nothing to shake a stick at. According to Dennett, “We’ve seen our transfusion rates go from 15% to 18% down to around between 1% and 2% on a daily basis.”

Not too bad of an outcome if you ask us.

“If you’ve got data to support the practice, it’s a really effective tool. For example, you can do a search and say this is what other places are doing to use as your foundation. Then set it up in your organization and monitor the progress. You’re going to have some disagreements, you’re going to have some arguments on a clinical debate level. But when you can share that success when you take a chance, it’s huge and everybody wins, especially the patient.”

Now that Holland has had such success leading the way with PRO collection, and better yet, putting that data to good use, what will they be able to do with benchmarking? We can’t wait to find out. The future is bright!