MARSHALL MEDICAL CENTER REPORTS PROGRESS IN LATEST COMMUNITY BENEFIT REPORT

Living out its mission to improve health in El Dorado County, Marshall has invested in community benefit programs to enhance access to behavioral health services, prevent and better manage chronic disease, and increase primary care access. These actions were based on the findings of a Community Health Needs Assessment conducted in 2016. A three-year implementation plan addresses the top needs identified by a task force including community health leaders. The full 2018 Community Benefit Report is available at marshallmedical.org/communitybenefit.

Health Need: Access to Behavioral Health Services

Marshall continues to recruit behavioral health specialists including social workers and clinical psychiatrists, having recruited one psychiatrist and several social workers since 2016. Another psychiatrist is due to join Marshall this fall. In November 2018, Marshall CARES (Clinically Assisted Recovery and Education Services) opened to treat patients with opioid, alcohol and other addictions. In addition, Marshall has worked to strengthen partnerships with partner agencies through consultation and collaboration. Marshall has taken steps to standardize its own practices for the provision of mental health services and 12 providers completed training to expand efforts in medication assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid addiction. When a patient presents in Marshall’s Emergency Department in withdrawal, the patient is offered participation in MAT, which includes a prescription of buprenorphine to alleviate withdrawal symptoms, followed by a next day appointment at Marshall CARES to develop a treatment plan. As a result of these and other efforts, emergency visits and hospitalizations related to mental health have been reduced by 3% in the past two years and nearly 100 patients have participated in the ED Bridge Program. With the addition of a psychiatrist to the medical staff, more patients have access to mental health services, though the demand contines to outpace the capacity.

Health Need: Disease Prevention, Management and Treatment

Marshall increased capacity and utilization of disease prevention, management and treatment services by actively drawing patients into preventive care management programs including the Community Care Network (CCN), Outpatient Care Management (OPCM), Cancer Resource Center and Congestive Heart Active Telephone Treatment (CHATT) programs. They will also continue to recruit physicians, advanced practice nurses and physician assistants and standardize best practices for identified disease management and treatment services and programs. Marshall supports collaborative disease prevention and health education efforts within the community including women’s health events, youth programs, and local community task forces. Data shows that through programs like OPCM and CCN, Marshall has reduced hospital admissions and readmissions as well as ER visits significantly. For example, total hospital visits decreased 31% and ER visits for CCN patients went from 1.62 visits per month to 1.11 visits per month.

Health Need: Access to High Quality Health Care and Services

Marshall aims to increase access to primary care and utilization of care management services by recruiting primary care providers, establishing a system to provide hospitalized patients with a scheduled follow-up appointment, and conducting target outreach effort to high-needs communities and populations. Marshall will also partner with El Dorado County’s Community Health Improvement Plan teams, ACCEL and others to improve access to care. Data shows that inpatient encounters have decreased 88% and inpatient readmissions decreased 20% for patients enrolled in OPCM.

Marshall’s current community benefit implementation plan will continue to be carried out until November, with a report for 2019 efforts released in late spring 2020.

Marshall is an independent, nonprofit community healthcare provider located in the heart of the Sierra Foothills. Marshall includes Marshall Hospital, a fully accredited acute care facility with 125 beds in Placerville; several outpatient facilities in Cameron Park, El Dorado Hills and Georgetown; and many community health and education programs. Marshall has over 200 licensed practitioners and over 1,600 employees providing quality healthcare services to over 180,000 residents of El Dorado County.

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