Mercy's new changes help lower healthcare costs, elevate patient - Cincinnati News, Weather, Sports from FOX19 NOW-WXIX

Mercy's new changes help lower healthcare costs, elevate patient care

On Thursday, David Seltz, executive director of the state's Health Policy Commission (HPC), met with local hospital representatives to the Mercy Medical Center's improvements geared towards reducing healthcare costs and improving patients care.

"It is a huge challenge changing the healthcare systems to be one that is more efficient. We understand that in state government, and we're not going to have all the answers so we're interested in partnering with healthcare providers across the commonwealth, so that's why I'm here in Springfield," said Seltz.

In 2012, Mercy received around $45 million in state and federal funds to spend over the next three years to help the hospital operate more efficiently and effectively.

So far, these changes include a redesigned emergency room, more in-patient rooms, and a new patient-care hub.

"We're going to be more efficient as far how patients flow through the system ... all the way from the emergency room to the inpatient side to discharge. And we're also going to be increasing the communication we have with patients so that they are much more aware of what's going to happen to them during their stay," said Daniel Moen, President and CEO of Sisters of Providence Health System.

However, Mercy reps told CBS 3 that what happens after a patient leaves Mercy is equally as important towards helping the hospital keep its healthcare costs down. This includes keeping patients from being re-admitted to hospital.

"We've done a lot of innovative things to try to make sure that when patients are discharged, that they're ready for that discharge, and we can actually help them in the process of obtaining care once they've left our institution. linking them up with their primary care physicians, after a discharge, is a very important part of this process," said Moen.

On April 22, Mercy Medical Center will officially launch its new Care Connect Program. The program is a continuation of the hospital's commitment towards efficiency and giving its patients high-quality healthcare.

Copyright 2013 WSHM (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.