Sharp Transitions Named $100k Winner of 2019 Hearst Health Prize

Hearst Health, in partnership with the Jefferson College of Population Health has namedSharp Transitions as the winner of the 2019 Hearst Health Prize for its home-based palliative care program for patients with advanced and progressive chronic illness who are not ready for hospice care. The $100k annual award was given at the Population Health Colloquium in Philadelphia today in recognition of outstanding achievement in managing/improving population health.

Why Sharp Transitions?

Sharp Transitions, part of Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, provides home-based palliative care for patients with advanced and progressive chronic illness but who are not ready for hospice care. Bringing care to the patients and their families improves quality of life for the entire family. The impact of the Transitions program has resulted in a significant decrease in inpatient hospital mortality; emergency department visits and hospitalizations; and reduced healthcare costs for patients with cancer, COPD, heart failure and dementia.

Hearst Health Prize applications were evaluated by Jefferson College of Population Health faculty and a distinguished panel of judges. The applications were scored based on the program’s population health impact or outcome demonstrated by measurable improvement; use of evidence-based interventions and best practices to improve the quality of care; promotion of communication, collaboration and engagement; scalability and sustainability; and innovation. Sharp Transitions was the highest scoring in these criteria.

Hearst Health Prize  Competition Finalists

In addition to the $100,000 award for the winner, $25,000 awards were given to two competition finalists:

Arkansas SAVES (AR SAVES): Administered by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in partnership with the state’s Medicaid agency, AR SAVES provides real-time, interactive neurological consultation through its telestroke platform in rural and medically underserved areas across the state. Patients are primarily treated with alteplase, a clot-dissolving medication used to improve neurological recovery and reduce incidence of death and disability, before being transferred to a tertiary hospital for monitoring. In 2017, at three months nearly 70 percent of AR SAVES patients made a full recovery or recovery with slight issues from stroke. 

Mental health Outreach for MotherS (MOMS) Partnership:Emerging from the Yale School of Medicine, the Mental health Outreach for MotherS (MOMS) Partnership® interrupts intergenerational poverty by improving the mental health of overburdened and under-resourced mothers. The program meets mothers where they are in the community at grocery stores, after-school programs and community centers and provides mental health services paired with incentives that meet their basic health needs, such as diapers, feminine hygiene products and paper products. After participating in the program, 75 percent of mothers experienced a decrease in depression and a 67 percentdecrease in parenting stress.