Dr. Adam Kilian, Grand Prize Winner at ACP National Research Contest

Adam Kilian, MD, Fellow, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, was selected as the grand prize winner at the American College of Physicians (ACP) National Research Contest in April 2018 for his research poster on “Complex Care Maps: Empowering Colleagues to Deliver Patient-Centered Care.”

Dr. Kilian and colleagues developed an innovative cross-continuum intervention process and a succinct tool called a Complex Care Map© that addresses fragmentation in the health system and links providers to a comprehensive individualized analysis of the patient story and root causes for frequent access to health services. Each subject served as his/her own historical control. When predicted costs were compared to actual costs 12-months post intervention on the initial 300 high-need high-cost patients who were enrolled, the gross charges decreased by more than $5 million (p<0.001), healthcare utilization (visits, LOS, CT scans) decreased (p<0.001), and patient health outcomes and provider satisfaction improved - all while the operating margin improved by 73% (p<0.001).

This process is one of the most successful interventions in the country for reducing costs and utilization while improving care for high-need, high-cost patients (who represent 30% of the US healthcare economy) yet which does not sacrifice funding for non-profit healthcare organizations - and in fact it substantially increases the operating margin. This intervention has now been implemented by hundreds of hospitals nationwide. Dr. Kilian is working with his colleagues on evaluating disease-specific outcomes on patients who have benefited from the Complex Care Maps©. 

Return to Department of Internal Medicine News.