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Healthcare DSRIP Programs: Being Successful with Technology

By 10.12.15
Reading time: 3 minutes

The other day I had the opportunity to join, and present, at the Salesforce office for a Developer day focused on the New York State DSRIP initiative given our current work with DSRIP clients. For those that are not aware, NY State, like 10+ States across the country are focusing their efforts on new Delivery System Reform Incentive Programs (DSRIP). The goal, according to CMS is the following:

“The DSRIP program will promote community-level collaborations and focus on system reform, specifically a goal to achieve a 25 percent reduction in avoidable hospital use over five years. Safety net providers will be required to collaborate to implement innovative projects focusing on system transformation, clinical improvement, and population health improvement.”

Although the implementation approach and program maturity is different between the states, locally, regionally, and nationally, Healthcare organizations are realizing that coordination and collaboration is one of the most critical factors to improving the quality of care for Medicare recipients; consolidation is accelerating this reality.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, there are a number of key themes that have emerged from these programs that can serve as worthwhile learnings as current and future states attempt to improve upon these programs, such as:

  • DSRIP initiatives are promoting collaboration, supporting innovation, and bringing renewed attention to social services
  • It is critical but challenging to design appropriate DSRIP measures
  • DSRIP’s role in broader delivery system reform and relationship to Medicaid managed care remains unclear
  • DSRIP is only one of a myriad of factors impacting the Medicaid program – others include the implementation of the ACA, the economic environment, and ongoing program management
  • The financing structure behind DSRIP waivers can dramatically affect how they are implemented
  • The complexity and rapid pace of DSRIP implementation poses challenges to providers, advocates, and state officials

Further, in my own review, it is readily apparent that three other themes emerge as well:

  1. Metrics tied to Performance – the ability for your organization to not only have the necessary data, but be able to quickly and effective report on these metrics requires another level of sophistication. Further, these metrics should not just be used reactively, the proactive push of data to key stakeholders further increases the activity required to drive transformation.
  2. Technology as a Facilitator  – it is imperative that organizations invest in the right technology platform to be successful with these initiatives. That’s right, invest, don’t just rely on legacy applications that have inconsistent data, do not effectively talk to each other, and have an inability to provide the necessary tools and services to drive the program’s end goals. Further, moving away from manual based activities maintained via spreadsheets is an immediate first step that helps facilitate greater transparency, and sets the framework for new workflow and processes.
  3. Phased Approach – You must crawl before you walk, and walk before you run. It’s overused, but accurate. When defining the approach, or “roadmap” for your solution, make sure you and your partners follow a defined methodology that is going to allow you to meet requirements over the course of time. Set the framework first, work on processes, and then ultimately get to the achievement of clinical outcome improvements.

From our experience, getting up and running on an initial platform that can drive you to success takes just a few months, not years or large investments in “custom solutions.”

Not sure where to start? Silverline can help! We are working with DSRIP organizations to develop a roadmap that will make them successful to meet the program requirements. Feel free to get in touch with me here to discuss your current progress or questions you may have.

Also, be on the lookout for Silverline’s DSRIP Point of View that will be coming out in a few weeks.

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