UW Health Partners Prepares For Value-Based Care With Expanded Deployment Of Phytel Population Health And Patient Engagement Platform

Prevalence of pay-for-quality contracts drives health system to add quality tracking, reporting and analytics capabilities

UW Health Partners Watertown Regional Medical Center (WRMC) has expanded its deployment of Web-based population health management technology from Phytel to help it improve health outcomes, track and report on quality improvements, and maximize value-based incentives from payers.

WRMC, a clinical affiliate of UW Health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a progressive regional health system that has served residents of South Central Wisconsin for more than 100 years. Like most health systems, WRMC is increasingly involved in pay-for-performance and pay-for-quality programs with insurers, according to Mike Nordness, MEd, MBA, director of primary care for the health system.

"To succeed in all of these new models of care, we need to be able to quickly extrapolate data for specific health conditions, sort by the different population types and the differing requirements of payers, and produce quality reports to show that we are not only reducing cost but also improving care for our patients," said Nordness. "We had been using Phytel for patient outreach and engagement for years, and after evaluating the solutions on the market we discovered they had by far the most robust package for value-based analytics and reporting."

Rolled out across WRMC's seven primary care clinics, Phytel's all-payer all-EMR patient-centered registry will provide instant access to integrated, analyzed data across all of WRMC's providers, locations, medical groups and conditions. Data visualizations will make it easy to view summary results across the health system or to focus on particular groups of patients and individuals in order to proactively address their healthcare needs. WRMC's providers can use it to identify gaps in recommended care and initiate improvements with information that feeds easily into Phytel campaigns to engage patients and improve health outcomes.

"We are pleased that UW Health Partners has expanded its engagement with us to scale its care management processes and implement workflow tools designed for value-based care," said Steve Schelhammer, CEO of Phytel. "With the assistance of our clinical analytics tools and care coordination platform, we're confident that we can contribute to WRMC's quality and business goals."

About UW Health Partners Watertown Regional Medical Center
A progressive regional health system which has served residents of South Central Wisconsin for more than 100 years, UW Health Partners Watertown Regional Medical Center (WRMC) is working to redefine excellence in healthcare. Our clinics throughout the region provide convenient access to both primary and specialty care with an emphasis on wellness and disease prevention.

At WRMC patients enjoy the best of both worlds. Advanced technology and specialized medical expertise makes for exceptional clinical quality. At the same time, our commitment to our heritage as a community servant allows us to provide a level of personalized, compassionate care which is not found elsewhere. Our clinical affiliation with UW Health - one of the nation's most respected academic medical centers - provides exceptional specialty care resources for adults and pediatrics as well as a link to the university's research and academic work.

WRMC has grown considerably over the last decade. Our facilities are modern and our achievements in the use of health technology have earned us repeated national recognition. Comprehensive programs of excellence in Women's Health, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Heart and Vascular and Pediatrics provide advanced care to the region.

About Phytel
The premier company empowering physician-led population health improvement, Phytel provides physicians with proven technology to deliver timely, coordinated care to their patients. Phytel's state-of-the-art registry, which now encompasses more than 35 million patients nationwide, uses evidence-based chronic and preventive care protocols to identify and notify patients due for service, while tracking compliance and measuring quality and financial results. Phytel is ISO 9001:2008 certified, confirming adherence to ISO's internationally recognized Total Quality Management (TQM) standards. For more information, visit www.phytel.com.