Is Your Practice’s Strategy Missing Care Coordination?

For Medicare patients battling multiple chronic conditions, care coordination is saving lives and simplifying care. Built on individualized services and attention, patients who have spent years trying to manage the complicated aspects of their care are finally achieving well-deserved results. A shift has occurred in healthcare over recent years that has providers looking for ways to improve the quality of patient care to achieve positive outcomes and focus less on the traditional fee-for-service approach. With the launch of Chronic Care Management by CMS in 2015, patients everywhere are finally gaining control over their symptoms and conditions rather than the other way around. Care coordination is connecting health systems and providers to simplify each process for the patient, make quality care more accessible, and improve their results.

Patient Benefits of Care Coordination:

Outreach

It is extremely easy for a patient battling multiple chronic conditions to become disconnected from their providers. The issue is, staying connected and engaged in your medical care is one of the keys to achieving positive outcomes and managing your symptoms as they appear. Care coordination services offer a solution to keeping patients connected through every step of their care. By partnering with a vendor of chronic care management services, a qualified care coordination professional makes sure your patient has constant access to their provider. As an extension of your organization, your CCM vendor works with your patients to gather information, questions, and new developments in their care so that your practice has everything they need to help.

Advocacy

Care coordination services provide each patient within your organization with someone in their corner fighting for their health and well-being. With 24/7 access to someone who can help, your CCM vendor works with patients to make sure they are not only connected to their providers but that each aspect of their care is in order and in line to achieve the best outcome possible. Services like medication reconciliation and community resource referrals ensure your patient has access to more than they might know to look or ask for on their own. Care coordination services also ensure that patients have an easy way to advocate for themselves so they are not discouraged by their care, which can often be overwhelming depending on the conditions they are managing.

Coaching

Lastly, care coordination services are essential to the patient’s greater understanding of their care, how to care for themselves, and what steps to take if things are not right. A qualified care coordination professional will work with your patients to make sure they understand the different steps of their care, like when to take what medications, when and where their appointments are, and what options are available to them at any time. With someone there to explain these details, patients are better able to manage and address new issues as they appear, recognize when something in their health has changed, and how to communicate that to their provider.

Implementing a quality chronic care management program with life-saving care coordination services can make all the difference in the lives of your patients. To learn more about how to integrate care coordination into your practice’s strategy, click here.