Hospitals in Action >> Case Examples

BLANCHARD VALLEY HEALTH SYSTEM - Findlay, OH
Northwest Ohio Employer Data Project

What is it?
Blanchard Valley Health System leads a unique collaborative effort that brings employers, physicians, and the health system to the table to proactively improve health care in their community using health care claims data. The Northwest Ohio Employer Data Project (known as EDOC) is a regional collaborative effort started in 2005 among eight major employers, Blanchard Valley Health System, and Hancock Medical Group, an association of 120 physicians. EDOC employers include Bridgestone APM, Cooper Tire and Rubber, Findlay City Schools, Nissin, Marathon Oil, Rowmark, Whirlpool, and the hospital.

Who is it for?
The communities in Hancock, Putnam, and northern Allen counties in Ohio.

How do they do it?
Employers contributed their health care claims data from 2002-2006 into a common database, which is used as the basis of analysis and priority setting. In its first two years, EDOC has been conducting improvement projects in the areas of hypertension, diabetes, gastro-esophageal reflux disease, and otitis media. In addition to the improvement that EDOC has already demonstrated through its hypertension project (a 28 percent change for the better over one year in a sample population's blood pressure), EDOC also has preliminary indicators of progress in other areas. Physicians receive profiles of their care comparing them to their peers and national benchmarks.

Why do they do it?
The purpose of the Employer Data Project is to improve the efficiency and quality of local health care, using an evidence-based, data-driven approach. EDOC works to improve physicians' compliance with evidence-based standards of care, consumers' understanding of their chronic conditions, and compliance with their care and preventive guidelines. It also involves employers in education and preventive activities. Employers, through dialogue with the physicians, have also begun to examine the incentives imbedded in their health plan design. The non-adversarial and proactive nature of the EDOC collaborative, as well as its hands-on approach to improving quality and costs, demonstrates what a community can do to improve health care.

Contact: Scott Malaney
President and CEO
Telephone: 419-423-5201
E-mail: smalaney@bvhealthsystem.org