Dr. Edward Taylor Earns NHN's First Innovator Award

Nebraska Health Network awarded its first Innovator Award to Edward Taylor, MD, during its Spring Physician and Provider Meeting on June 11.

Dr. Taylor is a board-certified internal medicine physician at Methodist Physicians Clinic Indian Hills and has been instrumental in using data to drive meaningful change.

Sophisticated data analytics have the potential to identify patients whose health conditions are predicted to worsen in the next six to 12 months.

“Data alone cannot predict why a patient’s condition will worsen or what clinical interventions will help prevent the decline,” said Michael Romano, MD, chief medical officer for the Nebraska Health Network. “To maximize the use of data and really impact patient care, we rely on strong physician partners who will take the analytics one step further to review at-risk patients and decide on an appropriate course of action.”

Based on Dr. Taylor’s work, the NHN is developing best practices around the use of data analytics.

“Dr. Taylor is a role model for how data should be leveraged to successfully manage the health of a patient population,” Dr. Romano said. “His passion for caring for his patients and maximizing data use made him the clear choice for our first Innovator Award.” 

In addition to the 2019 Innovator Award, NHN recognized a number of top-performing providers and clinics for their work around Medicare Annual Wellness Visits.

Medicare Annual Wellness Visits are preventive visits covered by Medicare at no cost to the patient that focus on issues that may be overlooked in routine physical exams and enable the care provider to develop a long-term preventive care plan for the patient. Research shows that patients who receive Medicare Annual Wellness Visits have substantially fewer emergency room visits and lower overall health costs.

The following awards were presented based on completion rates and attribution size, or the number of patients assigned to a particular provider or clinic:

Highest Performers, Providers

M. Suzan Crabb, MD, Methodist Physicians Clinic Healthwest, Internal Medicine (high patient attribution category); Quinn Schulte, PA-C, Methodist Physicians Clinic Ridge, Internal Medicine (low patient attribution category)

Highest Performers, Clinics

Methodist Physicians Clinic Healthwest, Internal Medicine (high patient attribution category); Nebraska Medicine Elkhorn, Family Medicine (low patient attribution category)

Most Improved, Providers

Andrew Vasey, MD, Nebraska Medicine Durham Outpatient Center, Internal Medicine (high patient attribution category); Emily Hill, APRN-NP, Nebraska Medicine Eagle Run, Family Medicine (low patient attribution category)

Most Improved, Clinics

Midwest Regional Health Services, (high patient attribution category); Holmes and Munyon, PC (low patient attribution category)