HES Data Improving customer care
Introduction
According to the British Heart Foundation, in 2017, 545 people a day were hospitalised due to heart attack, with cardiovascular disease killing 1 person in the UK every three minutes. AstraZeneca was working closely with a passionate Cardiologist seeking to improve the long-term prospects of cardiovascular patients.
Counterintuitively, patients suffering from partial blockages of the coronary artery (NSTEMI) were found to be at greater long-term risk than those surviving a full heart attack.
CSL worked with AstraZeneca and the NHS to help improve this situation through effective use of the NHS’ own data.
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What challenges did the client face?
Following an NSTEMI, NICE quality standards state that required procedures should be performed within 72 hours. However, there was a large variation in the standard of care across the UK. Many Trusts struggled to achieve the target of 60% of required procedures within that timeframe due to complex pathways and local issues.
AstraZeneca sponsored and supported the NIC NSTEACS group, setting up a cardiovascular partnership program. They worked with the Cardiologist to support peer to peer workshops but needed real world data that everyone involved would believe and could agree on. This would ensure discussions were around moving forward on improvements, not disputing data anomalies.
What did we do to solve it?
CSL worked closely with AZ and the Cardiologist to develop a complex model of patient journeys using the NHS’ Hospital Episode Statistics data. The model enabled us to capture the nuances of the pathways, picking up transfers between local and specialist centres to better understand the true time of first treatment of these patients.
These analyses were then used as the basis for discussion in the workshops. As they were formed from the NHS’ own data, the physicians were comfortable making decisions for improvement based on their findings.
What were the benefits for the client?
Over 15 workshops were conducted with the NHS in this innovative “beyond the pill” project, with empowered and galvanised cardiology teams driving improvement off the back of them.
The data was used to monitor the progress teams made after the workshops, and real improvements in treatment times were evidenced again and again in the months that followed.
In the feedback from physicians there was frequent agreement that the initiative had and would continue to save lives. This project was a true testament to the power of data used effectively to make a difference.
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