CaseStudy_Boulder

							Contacts:
Sherry Ballou-Dolman, HeartCaring Resource Nurse, Boulder Community Hospital 303.938.3142
Rich Sheehan, Director, Public Relations, Boulder Community Hospital 303.441.0502


                         Spirit of Women® HeartCaring® Case Study
                  Boulder Community Hospital, Boulder, CO
Boulder Community Hospital utilized HeartCaring, a national cardiovascular health
education and resource program administered by the Spirit of Women Hospital Network, to
create a convenient self-referral patient program that integrates the delivery of comprehensive
screening and follow-up care, and gave the Hospital an edge over encroaching competition.

What is HeartCaring®?

HeartCaring is a national certification program created by Spirit of Women indicating a
commitment to excellence in gender-sensitive cardiovascular care. The program supports
hospitals in their efforts to improve the heart health of the members of their community, while
profitably integrating hospital and physician clinical and outreach initiatives.

HeartCaring involves a three-prong approach to planning and implementation that includes
hospitals, clinicians, consumers, government agencies and corporate partners in an effort to
increase awareness and reduce cardiovascular disease in women. The growing body of research
reveals an under-diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases in women as well as variations in clinical
indicators, symptoms, and treatment regimens, underscoring the need for a gender-sensitive
approach to cardiovascular medicine. HeartCaring offers professional education and outreach,
clinical excellence and consumer education – all in an effort to facilitate action around the
identification and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and conditions, peripheral arterial disease
(P.A.D.), and stroke in women.

HeartCaring partnerships include the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) The
Heart Truth, The Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership, National Stroke
Association and the Peripheral Arterial Disease (P.A.D.) Coalition.




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HeartCaring Screening Program: Boulder Community Hospital, Boulder, CO

Problem/Challenge:
As a health- and cardiovascular-care leader in their region, Boulder Community Hospital (BCH)
sponsors and participates in a wide variety of health fairs and events to raise awareness of
cardiovascular health and help community members identify potential health issues. However,
BCH recognized that these venues lacked formal follow-up mechanisms that would enable them
to capitalize on the visibility generated through these events, as well as the ability to provide
additional supportive care to individuals who identified cardiovascular health issues through
BCH events. Additionally, a screening program competitor with no local healthcare presence
was capturing revenue through health screenings, providing results directly to patients, and then
providing no follow-up to the patient. This pattern created challenges for the hospital and
community physicians – particularly family practitioners, internists, OB Gyns, and cardiologists
– who were all seeing increasing numbers of patients wanting follow up on “external” results.

Objectives:
 Enhance community education and screening programs to identify disease earlier.
 Provide a mechanism whereby screening can be done anytime for patients
   (“virtual health fair”).
 Ensure streamlined and effective continuum of care for patients with identified
   cardiovascular risks.
 Capture greater share of cardiovascular patients for Boulder Community Hospital.
 Address physician concerns related to “test and dump” dynamic created by external
   screening services.
 Address Navigation issues related to follow up care within the Community.

Approach:
Boulder Community Hospital leveraged the structure and resources provided by the HeartCaring
program to create an on-going hospital “virtual health fair,” accessible through various hospital
campuses. This program offers community members a comprehensive, competitively priced and
convenient health screening program directed by a HeartCaring Resource (cardiac) Nurse on-site
at BCH. The program was piloted through focus groups in July of 2007, and was subsequently
offered through BCH’s wellness program. These individuals then helped drive enrollment
through discussions with clients, family and friends when the program was officially launched to
the public in November of 2007. The HeartCaring program provides significant benefits to the
hospital through consolidation of patient screening and follow-up, greater control over patient
referral patterns, cost reduction, enhanced physician relationships, and patient loyalty and
satisfaction. The program has also made BCH’s community outreach programs a great deal more
“trackable” and measurable.

BCH’s HeartCaring Screening program comprise of the following elements:
 Fasting blood work (lipid panel) conducted in advance of on-site appointment.
 A 90-minute on-site appointment involving a variety of non-invasive screenings, such as
  carotid ultrasound, aortic ultrasound, blood pressure, ankle brachial index, heel scan for bone
  density, lung function test, written sleep disorder test, glucose test, and body mass index; all
  costs for services and staff time utilized during the screening are covered by the patient fee.


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   Immediate delivery of all screening results to the HeartCaring Resource Nurse.
   A private “de-brief” with the HeartCaring Resource Nurse, during which the patient receives
    a summary of results, cardiovascular health education including HeartCaring evidence-based
    patient materials, recommendations for follow-up as necessary, and assistance in
    coordinating and scheduling follow-up, including in-hospital appointments if relevant. This
    navigation function was deemed crucial to follow-up and referral.
   Screening results available to physicians through the BCH’s information system.

The Hospital officially launched their new HeartCaring screening program through BCH’s
auxiliary group members and a consortium of local businesses interested in wellness initiatives.
The program was presented to the consortium and followed up with direct e-mails to employees
of the City of Boulder, the Boulder Valley School District, and Leed’s Business School at the
University of Colorado. Generally, BCH has found that working with sizeable community
employers such as these provides a “win/win” where the hospital gains access to a large pool of
local, potential participants and employers benefit financially from having healthier employees.
Local newspaper advertisements for the program occurred at year’s end to encourage people to
start the New Year with wellness.

Finally, BCH began leveraging their presence at external health fairs to promote the screening
program, altering their standard model to provide a portion of the comprehensive screening at the
fairs (blood draw, spirometry, heel scan, and sleep assessment) coupled with a coupon for the
remainder of the package to be conducted at the hospital. In 2008, BCH will expand program
marketing by sending informational letters to patients of hospital-employed physicians.

Results:
 Consumer education and BCH marketing have been enhanced through the program and
   potential hospital patients have come through the doors for the first time as a result of the
   program. Media exposure for the program has been exceptional, particularly a recent article
   in a local business journal, which further assisted in marketing the program to local
   businesses. If purchased as advertising, this article has a $1665 value.
 From July 2007 to mid-March 2008, a total of 360 individuals have participated in the
   screening program (67% women, 33% men). From among these, 173 were referred back to
   their Primary Care Provider (many of which are BCH-employed physicians), or for
   additional hospital services including further cardiac diagnostic testing, sleep studies, dexa
   scans, and full carotid ultrasounds. Realized referrals are detailed on page 4.
 While the screening program pays for itself through the patient fee for the screening, it has
   generated significant downstream revenue for BCH – approximately $97,380 in realized
   referrals (based upon average reimbursement, not billed charges). The full downstream
   revenue effect is somewhat difficult to quantify as some patients may have been seen out of
   the BCH system and specialists that practice at the Hospital are private practitioners. BCH
   program leaders are currently working on financial modeling, which could help to quantify
   the downstream revenue effects.
 The clinical and economic success of BCH’s HeartCaring screening program has so far
   resulted in the addition of more than 1.5 full-time employees (a HeartCaring Resource Nurse
   and a non-invasive cardiac technologist).



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   Based on requests from HeartCaring participants, BCH is considering expansion of the
    program to include potential adjunctive programs such as lifestyle management resources
    like wellness or personal training, an exercise track, establishment of a community lipid
    monitoring clinic, and a “before-and-after” intervention program.
   Patient satisfaction with the HeartCaring program is exceptionally high with participants
    rating the overall excellence at 4.95 (on a 5 point scale). One participant stated: “My
    husband and I wish to extend our sincere thank you for the excellent services performed. All
    of the staff were so kind and considerate while assisting us. We are so grateful that you
    helped us to identify our potential risks in several disease categories. Even our physician
    was impressed with the thoroughness of your testing program.”




Quantified HeartCaring Referral Results
(over an 8 month period, including a 3 month soft pilot launch)




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Evaluation:
 Increasing access to comprehensive and convenient health screening has a direct impact on
   community health. Participants who experienced the screening program first-hand
   communicated its benefits to family and friends, who subsequently made their own
   appointments.
 In a community such as Boulder, many individuals proactively seek programs that help them
   manage their health. By understanding and addressing this market need through HeartCaring,
   a program that provides specific, actionable outcomes, BCH has significantly increased its
   ability to drive consumer and community loyalty, which they monitor through their internal
   Service Excellence program.
 The HeartCaring Resource Nurse managing BCH’s HeartCaring screening program has
   become a valuable asset across the hospital, contributing to greater awareness among hospital
   medical professionals about the value of specific screening tests and the importance of
   cardiovascular health monitoring.
 By creating a pathway for interaction between the program’s HeartCaring Resource Nurse
   and individual physicians’ offices, the program has generated integration and relationships
   that will lead to scheduling and completion of physician office HeartCaring trainings. BCH
   has directly referred patients to Primary Care Providers to provide assistance and support in
   patient management and navigation.
 Based on the success of their HeartCaring screening program, BCH is creating a customized
   database to track and interpret patient results. This database will lead to actionable
   information resulting in proactive patient management patterns and improved clinical
   outcomes.
 As cited in the Boulder County Business Report, BCH is recognized by the business
   community for being responsive to the community health needs assessment through the
   provision of customized wellness programs for employers:

            “At Boulder Community Hospital several wellness programs
            have been created to reach out to the business community as well.
            These programs have been developed under one umbrella association,
             the Boulder County Business Wellness Consortium, which was formed
            nearly five years ago by companies and organizations that are committed
            to promoting health wellness and productivity in the workplace…companies
            that use Boulder Community Hospital as their preferred medical providers
            are also given the chance to participate in free consultations and seminars
            concerning safety and health-risk assessments, as well as lunch and learn
            programs. Diagnostic lab screening is made available to employees of these
            companies. This past year Boulder Community Hospital started an employee
            wellness screening program,HeartCaring, which offers nine screening tests
            as well as a follow-up session with a nurse practitioner.”




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