Earlier this month, BWH Bulletin shared a story about how the Brigham and Women’s Physician Organization (BWPO) is working to redesign clinical care, improve quality and decrease costs. One of the ways it’s doing this is through the BWPO Care Redesign and Incubator Startup Program, or BCRISP.

“We’re trying to engage our clinicians to come up with great ideas,” said Karl Laskowski, MD, assistant medical director of the BWPO, who oversees BCRISP. “We don’t have all the answers, but people on the frontlines do. We wanted to put a structure in place where we could succeed in helping these projects prove their value.”

Established in 2013, BCRISP encourages teams of frontline clinicians to submit proposals for projects that improve quality of care and reduce health care costs. More than 100 proposals and 16 project pilots later, BCRISP has led to $1.2 million in total medical expense savings.

The latest round of BCRISP projects, called BCRISP 2.0, includes 10 projects, all of which began last summer and have since been designed and implemented at BWH. The groups will share their successes later this month at an event open to all employees.

“All of the projects are so innovative and exciting,” said Elizabeth Cullen, senior project manager of Care Redesign for the BWPO.

Led by Jay Schuur, MD, MHS, and Michelle Lin, MD, MPH, of Emergency Medicine, and Christine Dutkiewicz, RN, MSN, CCM, Care Coordination nursing director, one project focuses on identifying patients who are the most frequent users of the Emergency Department (ED). The goal is to reduce their ED visits by better coordinating care with their primary care physicians and care team. A community health worker provides social support and manages patients’ care, including checking in on them by phone and arranging home visits. The project also includes acute care plans, engagement with ED providers and a pager notification to alert the ED team when one of these patients comes to the ED.

Pharmacists Amrita Chabria and Lina Matta have spearheaded another project, creating a system for delivering medications to the patient bedside before discharge. This avoids delays for patients who need to begin taking their medications immediately. The project also offers education about medications at the bedside and seeks to help patients avoid hospital readmissions. Patients are able to transition more easily after discharge since critical medications are in their hands before they leave the hospital.

In Obstetrics and Gynecology, Louise Wilkins-Haug, MD, PhD, Carolina Bibbo, MD, and Sarah Little, MD, developed a twin initiative project to reduce the number of ultrasounds and avoid unnecessary C-sections for expectant mothers of twins. The project created two websites—one for patients and one for providers—with educational videos to help patients and physicians start thinking about delivery earlier during the pregnancy. An interactive portal was also created for patients to log into and submit their questions.

All 10 pilot projects will be presented in Carrie Hall on Wednesday, March 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. All are welcome to attend.