Jackson Behavioral Health excels in measurement-based care using Oracle Health technology
Optimized reporting, key alerts, and customized technology enabled one organization to excel across multiple quality measures—making lasting impacts on the mental health community it serves.
“Mental health does not discriminate. It's one of the most overlooked populations that we serve. This overlooked demographic needs more help, more attention, and more resources.”
Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital located in Miami, Florida, is the state’s largest freestanding behavioral health clinic, offering a full continuum of mental health care for patients ranging from children to seniors. The hospital’s mission is to a deliver a structured, supportive, and safe environment to address acute and chronic mental health needs—not only during the inpatient stay, but across outpatient settings.
“Nationally, we do not talk about mental health enough and there is still a stigma. How do you know who's struggling with mental health? It’s everyone. We want to help those in need—whether it’s for a situational crisis, like a divorce or a death, or something that's chronic,” says Bianca Evariste, RN, BSN, MBA, director of patient care services.
To support its mission of providing the best care for all, Jackson engaged Oracle Health’s Quality Reporting Alignment team. The goal was to help meet and exceed key value objectives as outlined by the Joint Commission and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Using PowerChart, Model Discern Modules, and Custom Discern Modules, the behavioral health facility optimized its processes to achieve advanced institutional fitness and superior quality of care.
Hospital Based Inpatient Psychiatric Services (HBIPS)1 is one critical category that targets monitorization and use of antipsychotic therapies. Clinical circumstances may require hospitals to discharge a patient on multiple antipsychotics with an aftercare plan to transition to monotherapy. In these cases, effective communication between the inpatient and aftercare clinician is an essential element of care.
“It’s important that we monitor those patients that are discharged on multiple antipsychotics to be sure that they need to be on multiple drugs. We want to make sure that they've tried monotherapy and have gone through the process of confirming that it is not providing the best efficacy,” says Renae Dominguez, director of quality evidence-based clinical data processes.
Using Custom Discern Models, Oracle Health implemented active alerts to help providers capture accurate and appropriate justification when multiple antipsychotics have been prescribed. The alerts fire at time of discharge and require a provider to substantiate orders before the discharge can be completed. With PowerChart customizations, clinicians also have access to comprehensive patient histories upon review.
After engagement, Jackson Main achieved an average 97% compliance rate for appropriate justification for multiple antipsychotics at discharge (HBIPS-5).[2] At Jackson South, the compliance rate for HBIPS-5 reached 100% across multiple years.[3]
Another key objective was to support Tobacco Treatment Measures (TOB)4 across Jackson’s patient population. Quitting smoking is associated with decreases in depression, anxiety, and other mental health symptoms.5 The facility worked with Oracle Health to equip discharged patients with resources, support, and programs that help combat nicotine dependance.
“To help reduce the number of patients who use tobacco, we offer a smoking cessation program that they follow upon discharge. We provide them with a date and time to return for a follow-up appointment,” says Dominguez. “We want to educate patients on the risks of tobacco.”
Together, the Oracle Health team worked alongside staff to make updates to the facility’s smoking screening documentation. Using the Quality Reporting Discern Module, discharge alerts were introduced to notify providers when patients identified as tobacco users. This included patients who were referred to or refused outpatient counseling, as well as those who received or refused a prescription for FDA-approved tobacco cessation medication.
As part of an overall plan to foster continuity of care, all discharged patients leave with a comprehensive transitional record, and if applicable, that record is transferred to the next facility in 2 to 24 hours.
“When a patient leaves a hospital, we want to ensure that patient takes the next step in their journey and stays compliant with medications, therapists, and psychiatrists,” says Evariste. “We print out a transition of care containing specific elements, including discharge diagnoses, medications, lab results, and more. This is to ensure the next provider has everything they need.”
Jackson Behavioral Health remains committed to treating the behavioral health population and bridging gaps in care.
“We continue to use evidence-based processes,” says Evariste. “We continue to do everything we can to help this underserved population on their journey.”
1 HBIPS-5 (v2021A1) (jointcommission.org)
2 Based on data provided by Jackson Behavioral Health reported between Jan 1, 2022, and November 30, 2022. December data not available.
3 Based on data provided by Jackson Behavioral Health reported between April 1, 2021, and November 30, 2022. December data not available.
4 TOB-3 (v2020A1) (jointcommission.org)
5 Commercial Tobacco Product Use and Behavioral Health Conditions Can Affect Each Other (cdc.gov)