Cardinal Health reports ‘breakthrough’ in clinical models

Global healthcare products and services provider Cardinal Health has announced a “breakthrough” in its development of clinical models used to report the quality of care provided by hospitals or other healthcare providers.

The company reports that the more accurate use of clinical data results in greater clinical validity than traditionally-used methods by taking better account of the severity of an illness.

At present, models used for the prediction of mortality are based on bill analysis or administrative data, which healthcare workers and doctors note does not properly account for how severe an illness is, potentially resulting in prejudicial accounts of hospitals admitting patients with more critical illnesses.

Dwight Winstead, group president of clinical technologies and services for Cardinal Health, said: “These findings are significant in light of increased interest in Pay for Performance and public reporting initiatives and highlight the urgent need for valid, clinically-based risk-adjusted approaches.”

The company notes a rising interest from government agencies, insurance firms and healthcare providers worldwide in public accountability reporting and pay-for-performance, with the implementation of incentive-based schemes in an attempt to boost quality and control costs.

Last week, Cardinal Health announced the launch of its Presource prepackaged kits for physicians providing standard key surgical components for use in everyday cosmetic surgery procedures, including breast augmentation and rhinoplasty.