How Embedding Care Standards into EHR Empowers Clinical Variation Reduction At Cedars-Sinai

Harry C. Sax, MD, FACS, MHCM, FACHE, Professor and Executive Vice Chair, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and John Kontor, MD, Executive VP, Optum Advisory Services. Cedars-Sinai Health System partnered with Optum Advisory Services and Stanson Healthcare to design and execute an observational study to show that embedding care standards effectively within the provider workflow is at the heart of scalable, sustained care variation reduction efforts. In the study, improvements in care efficiency were driven by improving physician adherence to set guidelines using clinical decision support delivered to clinicians through the electronic health record. This resulted in savings of $944 per patient encounter (7% of the median encounter and a 6% decrease in the length of stay). Furthermore, where providers did not adhere to recommendations, readmissions within 30 days increased by 14% and complications by 29%. Drs. Sax and Kontor also discuss Cedars-Sinai’s overall CDS adoption strategy to address unwarranted care variation across the patient journey.