Evolution Health improve efficient care with SAS Episode Analytics

Evolution Health is a fully integrated medical practice specializing in mobile integrated healthcare solutions for patients in the home or alternative settings. Evolution Health has access to unmatched clinical resources of more than 38,000 hospital-based physicians, community-based paramedics, nurses, advanced practice providers and other clinicians who care for more than 18 million patients annually. By analyzing population health data to analyze and influence how patients can access healthcare more effectively, Evolution Health aims to improve outcomes and patient experiences, while reducing costs.

“We chose SAS for its clinical expertise in gathering and analyzing data in real time,” said Evolution Health CEO Eric Beck, DO, MPH. “That gives us the intelligence to reduce variations in quality and cost, prevent avoidable complications and ensure accountability for patient care. SAS’ core competency in big data analytics and its long experience in healthcare will help Evolution Health accomplish our goal: to change how healthcare is delivered and improve the lives of our patients.”

SAS Episode Analytics enables Evolution Health to more accurately assess the cost of coordinating care for an “episode” of medical care, such as a joint replacement or treatment for a chronic condition like diabetes. Clinicians start with a baseline for a diagnosis and can then adjust the model to accommodate for the severity and complexity of a patient's condition. Advanced episode definitions are expected to improve care and patient outcomes by differentiating avoidable complications from typical services. It also allows examining relevant services across the entire continuum of care including pre-admission, inpatient, post-discharge, rehab, home health or long term care.

Evolution Health clinicians are also using SAS Visual Analytics software to easily view and understand patient and operational data, helping to manage costs while improving the overall quality of care.Additionally, Evolution Health can supplement the claims data from episodes with patient clinical and other related data to determine who will benefit from focused intervention or other strategies such as early follow up with a patient who may have a low health literacy score to help prevent complications. This supports value-based payment contracts like those being piloted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in which Envision Healthcare participates.

“Providing consistent care with the best possible results is what value-driven healthcare is really about,” said Deidra Peacock, MBA, CPHIMS, Principal Product Manager for SAS. “Analytics takes the guesswork out of managing risk by setting specific, achievable and measurable targets for both cost and quality associated with patient care episodes. SAS Episode Analytics enables healthcare delivery systems and health plans to create agreements that benefit patients.