Cedar Point Health Improves Patient Reach with 20% More Data
Cedar Point Health is a multi-specialty healthcare organization providing comprehensive services including primary care, urgent care, hospital medicine, behavioral health and physical therapy in Montrose, Colorado. By delivering high-quality, coordinated care across Western Colorado, their patients experience shorter lengths of stay and report exceptional patient-physician communication. This is made possible through a blend of compassionate service, forward-thinking leadership and innovative technology.
Driving this innovative approach is Dr. Bryce Lokey, MD, who serves as Chief Medical Officer and Director of Operations. In a pivotal career shift, he transitioned from directly caring for 500 patients to taking on a strategic operational role that now impacts more than 22,000. As he describes it, he moved "from the orchestra to the conductor." Today, Dr. Lokey empowers the physicians who are transforming lives through healing. His mission is to reduce friction for providers and streamline operations so clinicians can deliver optimal care.
Challenge
How can physicians ensure they are notified when their patients are hospitalized?
Cedar Point Health faced a critical challenge: they often didn't know when their patients were experiencing medical emergencies. Without consistent notifications for ER visits, hospital admissions or discharges, they couldn't deliver the timely, coordinated care they promised.
As Cedar Point Health expanded its participation in Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and value-based care programs, this lack of real-time insight became more than a coordination issue; it evolved into a full-blown operational challenge. In a system that rewards quality of care over quantity of services, lacking visibility into patient care leads to missed opportunities to close care gaps, support recovery and help patients take ownership of their health.
Industry-Wide Root Causes Identified
- Patients often didn't correctly identify Cedar Point Health or their provider during emergency visits, especially in high-stress situations
- Hospitals cannot send ADT (Admission, Discharge, Transfer) notifications to providers who aren't listed in their directories, as they simply lack the necessary contact information.
Solution
Cedar Point Health decided to participate in Colorado's health information exchange to receive insights on their patient's medical emergencies.
Through established interface connections with Colorado hospitals, QHN (Contexture) receives a continuous stream of real-time patient data, including hospitalizations. Contexture uses Cedar Point Health's patient list to match patient records from other facilities and deliver relevant patient updates directly to their team.
The delivery method is just as important as the data.
Organizations can choose how and when they receive notifications, whether in real-time or batched on a schedule; delivered through direct EHR integration, secure File Transfer Protocol (sFTP) or Direct Secure Message (DSM). This customization ensures the data fits seamlessly into their existing processes.
For Cedar Point Health, their notifications are compiled into a downloadable CSV file and delivered on a schedule that fits the team's workflow. With over 22,000 patients under Dr. Lokey's care, this streamlined access helps him quickly identify where and when patients receive emergency care—allowing him to continue treatment without delay.
"This overcomes the barrier that a referral hospital doesn't have to keep up with our address book for us to get the records," explains Dr. Bryce Lokey.
Implementation
Once Dr. Lokey confirmed that the ADT feed could be isolated from other data streams, Cedar Point Health began sending their patient attribution list to QHN's (Contexture) in-house implementation team. The process was swift and focused.
The benefits extend far beyond clinical notifications. By centralizing data exchange, Cedar Point Health avoids the complexity and cost of building multiple interfaces.
“You don’t have to connect with every hospital individually, I just need one interface to get all the clinical data I need—and they help facilitate that process and get it done.”
Dr. Bryce Lokey, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Director of Operations
Outcome
The overall impact has been significant: a 20% increase in data completeness. “Now we can identify an ED visit that needs outreach,” says Dr. Lokey, which in turn helps get patients triaged faster and more efficiently through their in-house services.
Notifications increased in a 12-month window across the board, giving the organization a more complete and timely view of patient activity:
- 189% increase from one hospital
- 140% increase from a local health center
- 161% increase from a regional hospital
“QHN [Contexture] has tied together all of Western Colorado’s major facilities and resources into a single drop point,” Dr. Lokey adds. “I think ADTs have some of the richest power, and I would tell everyone—they need to be involved.”
Cedar Point Health’s adoption of a subscription-based ADT feed has proven to be a transformative step in their journey toward smarter, more connected and value-driven care.
Though now one degree removed from direct patient care, Dr. Lokey remains deeply connected to outcomes. His leadership ensures that Cedar Point’s systems and staff are aligned to deliver care that is timely, coordinated and compassionate.
He also appreciates the flexibility and partnership QHN (Contexture) brings to the table, “they’re willing to be creative and help meet the unique needs of your practice.”
In a healthcare landscape increasingly defined by value-based care, Cedar Point Health’s experience demonstrates how the right data infrastructure can drive both clinical excellence and operational efficiency.
“You’d be at a disadvantage in Western Colorado to not be engaged with QHN (Contexture).”
— Dr. Bryce Lokey, Chief Medical Officer, Cedar Point Health
About Cedar Point Health
At Cedar Point Health, your health is our priority. We are committed to providing exceptional Primary Care services to individuals and families across Colorado’s Western Slope. In addition to comprehensive primary care, our team offers specialized expertise in acute care, urgent care, hospital medicine, behavioral health, and physical therapy. To learn more about becoming a patient and receiving personalized, high-quality care, visit CedarPointHealth.com
About Contexture
Contexture is a nonprofit, regional organization that provides strategic, technical and administrative support to communities committed to advancing health through information sharing. With headquarters in Denver and Phoenix, Contexture is the largest health information organization in the western United States. Its mission is to advance individual and community health and wellness through the delivery of actionable information and analysis. Learn more at Contexture.org
