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Lincoln County Medical Center making big strides on their journey to value-based care!

Lincoln County Medical Center (LCMC) in Ruidoso, New Mexico, is a 25-bed, not-for-profit Critical Access Hospital (CAH) offering acute care, obstetrics, intensive care, emergency medicine, surgery, imaging, laboratory, rehabilitation services, and related outpatient ancillary services.  LCMC also operates:

  • Heritage Program - Geriatric outpatient behavioral health program
  • Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for Lincoln County
  • Six family practice clinics located in Ruidoso (2), Capitan, Carrizozo, Corona, and Hondo
  • Specialty clinics that include cardiology, general surgery, OB/GYN, and orthopedics

LCMC is owned by Albuquerque-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services and has served the Ruidoso and Lincoln County communities since 1950.

In 2020, LCMC was selected by the Rural Healthcare Provider Transition Project and was provided technical assistance to help strengthen its foundation in key elements of value-based care (VBC). LCMC participated in an operational and financial risk assessment to determine financial risk, identify strategies, and develop tactics to address operational cost-efficiency opportunities in preparation for participating in VBC arrangements. LCMC also participated in a quality project around best practices for patient and family engagement, patient experience, and staff resiliency, as patient experience is a key metric for value-based arrangements and is a critical factor in providing high-quality care. 

LCMC Reports Positive Outcomes within 12 Months: 

  • Increased operating margin by 77%
  • Increased the number of unique lives in the patient panel by 8.7%
  • Increase of 71% in the number of diabetic patients on insulin, between the ages of 40-50, who had their HA1c levels completed during a three-month 2022 time period

Top Accomplishments:

  • Developed staff training plans for teach-back and service recovery
  • Identified process improvements for discharge planning and workflow
  • Created role and onboarding a patient advocate
  • Shared and distributed leadership of project components across departmental leaders
  • Capitalized on continued to build an organizational culture of teamwork

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