Edward-Elmhurst Health, a 721-bed, 3-hospital system, provides comprehensive healthcare through an extensive ambulatory care network in the western suburbs of Chicago, IL.
EEH wanted to improve patient transfers to post-acute care (PAC) facilities. They had a PAC provider network but their ability to offer patients the best provider options were limited, and they weren’t satisfied that their existing referral system, All scripts (ECIN), could help improve provider choice without straining staff resources. In December 2019, they turned to Aidin. Their goal was to adopt a more coordinated, efficient patient transfer process and with Aidin they could embrace an open-market approach that would widen their selection of providers while simultaneously utilizing performance metrics and quality measures to identify and track the best care for their patients.
EEH was midway in their transition to the Aidin referral system when the COVID-19pandemic struck. The initial blow was overwhelming. Increasing COVID-19 cases stretched hospital staff and pandemic responses strained resources even further. At the end of March, EEH paused the onboarding activities for Aidin, with an intent to complete the transition when the COVID-19 crisis was more in control.
Just two weeks later, it became apparent to EEH that COVID-19 had exacerbated the issues they’d had with placing patients to PAC before the pandemic hit. Because their providers were managing overwhelming patient volumes as well, PAC placements were getting even more difficult-and COVID-19 cases were continuing to rise. It became clear to EEH that to weather this pandemic, it was more critical than ever to have access to more provider options for their patients.
On April 15th, EEH decided to move forward with the transition to Aidin. All onboarding tasks were shifted to remote activities through a coordinated effort between hospital staff, IT, and Aidin. Aidin was able to quickly transition to virtual training and provider engagement, with remote support that enabled implementation of the new system and onboarding to complete with no significant delays. Aidin went live on May 20, 2020. EEH’s COVID-19 cases had grown from 802,317 in April to over 2M by the end of May.
Hospital performance metrics
EEH saw improvements in its PAC transitions within one month of going live with Aidin: They saw referral volumes rise 6-fold (from 243 to 1,463) and the average LOS for post-acute patients drop from 7.14 days to 6.6 days. Notably, the LOS continued to fall, with the average LOS for PAC patients reduced by 20.6%, or 1.47 days, by December 2020.
Impact of Aidin on management of discharge workflows
A primary benefit of Aidin cited by EEH staff was the improvement in provider choice – Aidin gave them the capability of mass referrals but because of the tool ‘s filters, managers were able to create provider lists that were not only clinically appropriate for each patient, but also had the capability to admit them. Additionally, EEH staff were now able to provide patients with 3-5 provider options, whereas previously they would typically only be able to produce 1-2 provider options for their post-acute care patients.
EEH staff also cited key features of Aidin that allowed them to work more efficiently and effectively, such as the ease of using the platform to track patients and referrals, and the ability to easily share documents and keep track communications.
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