Risk Stratification and Prevention Sample Clauses

Risk Stratification and Prevention. It is a fact that people in Wandsworth are living longer than ever before. The prevalence of Long Term Conditions increases with age, therefore it is expected that many more people in Wandsworth will be living with long-term medical conditions in the future. Early diagnosis and improved treatments, means fewer people in Wandsworth are dying early from diseases like cancer, heart disease and strokes. In addition increased risk from certain lifestyle factors demonstrate that the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, COPD and CHD is likely to increase or remain at current levels in Wandsworth. This inevitably results in increasing demand for healthcare services. When this increased demand is combined with the current financial pressures facing the NHS and the prospect that funding in England will not increase above the rate of inflation for at least four years, the case for change is clear. One solution growing in popularity is to focus on the potential of so-called ‘upstream’ care to prevent the deterioration of individuals’ health to the point where a ‘downstream’ and expensive acute emergency admission is required. The assumption is that better ‘upstream’ care (or case management) will improve health such that the risk of admission (and cost) will be reduced. The key challenge is how to identify patients who are at future high risk of admission, and for whom an early intervention might reduce that risk. Evidence points to predictive models as having the most impressive predictive ability. Predictive modelling seeks to establish relationships between historical sets of variables, using statistical modelling, in order to predict future outcomes. Recognising this, the Commissioner has funded the implementation of the Xxxxxx Risk Stratification (predictive modelling) software tool in all Practices in Wandsworth by 31 March 2013 (see Appendix 16).

Risk Stratification and Prevention. This LES will promote pro-active and early identification of patients at risk through the use of risk stratification (or prediction) software tools which will help Practices to identify patients (see Section 8) who might be at risk of future admissions to hospital. Once “at risk” patients have been identified, preventative measures can be put in place with the intention of preventing and reducing the likelihood of future hospital admissions, adverse events and other poor health outcomes.