Health Care Innovation Awards: Peacehealth Ketchikan Medical Center Project Profile

Project Title: "Better health through coordinated care: a plan for southeast Alaska"
Geographic Reach: Alaska
Funding Amount: $3,169,386
Estimated 3-Year Savings: $3,384,627

Summary

PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center, partnering with PeaceHealth Medical Group in Ketchikan, AK and Craig, AK continues to use Health Care Innovation Awards funding to improve primary care coordination for patients with chronic disease in rural southeast Alaska. One nurse practitioner and four care coordinators are extending the clinical team's reach and have coordinated care for an estimated 600 patients through more than 1000 face-to-face visits and phone calls. Preventive intervention with patients through follow-up phone calls after discharge from hospital have resulted in increased access to the clinic and decreased referrals to the emergency room due to lack of appointment slots. Additional staff, working in various capacities, works to ensure patients are being tracked properly and clinical staff are properly trained to understand medical records and reports. The project's RN clinical educator works with office staff to increase competencies and is developing a formal educational track for medical office assistants with the University of Alaska in Ketchikan. The funding permits PeaceHealth to employ eight employees, train an estimated 28 existing employees, and increase access to its clinic by 20%.

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