Southwestern Health Resources (SWHR), the clinically integrated network which blends the strengths of UT Southwestern Medical Center and Texas Health Resources, has received the Leaders in Quality Excellence Award by the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations. (NAACOS)
The award recognizes ACOs that have helped improve the quality and safety of patient care and advance population health goals in 2022. Southwestern Health Resources was one of only three ACOs in the country selected by the NAACOS Quality Committee to receive this honor.
“We are honored to receive this prestigious award that demonstrates our commitment to high quality care,” said Dr. Jason Fish, MD, SWHR Chief Medical Officer. “Our use of machine learning has enabled us to create an innovative complex care management program that effectively improves patient health outcomes for our Medicare and Medicare Advantage population.”
SWHR was selected, in part, for its ability to identify patients within North Texas who were likely to incur a preventable event such as an unplanned hospital admission (UHA) or emergency room visit.
Over a six-month period, it was able to intervene with those patients using a comprehensive care management program comprised of a multidisciplinary team including nurse care managers, social workers, dietitians, and community health workers, which resulted in only 8% of those patients having a UHA compared to 34% who did not engage in care management.
SWHR has a goal of engaging 1,800 members by the end of 2023. With an anticipated success rate of 80%, this would avoid 1,440 unplanned hospital admissions.
