MDNews - Minnesota

Q &A Sanne magnan, md, Phd PRESidENT ANd CEO, iNSTiTuTE fOR CliNiCAl SySTEmS imPROVEmENT We've been living this mission for 20 years, and the trust we've developed allows us to unite clinicians, nonprofit health plans, employers, policymakers and consumers to solve complex healthcare system problems. We're currently focused on partnering with these stakeholders to achieve the Triple Aim of better health, better care and lower costs for the populations we serve. Q Can you give us any examples of how such collaboration works? Q What is the philosophy behind iCSi? A: The Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) is a nonprofit healthcare improvement collaboration comprising 50 medical groups in Minnesota and bordering areas, and sponsored by four Minnesota and Wisconsin nonprofit health plans. Our philosophy is that our community can accelerate the quality and value of health care by collaborating on common issues. AT A glANCE + Preferred sports team: minnesota Vikings, if i want to stay married! + favorite book: April 1865: The Month That Saved America, by Jay Winik + favorite vacation spot: North Carolina Outer banks + in five words or fewer, what is your greatest piece of advice? it's not things; it's relationships. 24 | Twin Cities MD News ■ MdNewS.CoM A: We brought together medical groups, health plans, radiologists, purchasers and patients to incorporate evidence-based criteria into electronic decision-support tools to increase appropriate high-tech diagnostic imaging tests being ordered in Minnesota. That joint effort made clinics more efficient, saved $150 million in five years by reducing unneeded imaging and is estimated to have prevented 70 Minnesotans from getting cancer from overexposure to radiation from unnecessary scans. Similarly, with the Minnesota Hospital Association and Stratis Health, we helped bring 80-plus hospitals and more than 90 community partners together to collaborate on preventing avoidable hospital readmissions. To date, the Reducing Avoidable Readmissions Effectively (RARE) Campaign has prevented more than 6,211 avoidable readmissions, letting patients and their families spend more than 24,844 nights sleeping in their own beds and saving Minnesota more than $55 million. Q How do you as CEO advance this collaborative model and achieve these results? A: We have a saying, "ICSI R Us." The collaboration that occurs and the results we achieve all hinge on the commitment of our members, sponsors and other community health leaders. As CEO, I strive to ensure ICSI remains the neutral table where stakeholders gather in an environment that fosters collaboration and innovation, and then, through our broad membership across Minnesota, accelerates the dissemination of new ways to deliver and reward highvalue care. Q As an organization serving many medical groups, what is iCSi's next challenge? A: Our members are deeply engaged in transitioning from a fee-for-service payment model to one based on value. It's like having one foot on the dock and one foot in a boat as it pulls away. When you're being stretched, it is harder to collaborate. But I believe the type of collaboration that occurs within ICSI is what sets Minnesota health care apart. There is a reason why Minnesota is a national leader in controlling hypertension, integrating behavioral health into primary care, ensuring appropriate medical images are ordered and preventing avoidable hospital readmissions. If anything, I believe we need to broaden this collaboration over time to include public health, communities and citizens so we all are accountable for improving health and can transform health care faster through our collective wisdom and commitment. Sanne Magnan, MD, PhD, is President and CEO of ICSI, www.icsi.org. Dr. Magnan was commissioner of health for the Minnesota Department of Health from 2007 to 2010. She previously was vice president and medical director of Consumer Health at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Dr. Magnan holds an MD and a PhD in medicinal chemistry from the University of Minnesota, as well as a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from the University of North Carolina. She may be reached at 952-814-7075 or smagnan@icsi.org. ■

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