Case Management and the Coordination of Care
The delivery of care that is property management kenwood ca upon reducing costs while delivering better outcomes is becoming more and more important today. It is often termed ‘value based care’. It will be the basis of much future reimbursement models whether from private or government payers. Currently, providers are rewarded bonuses for providing this care, especially in patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations. One of the keys to achieving better care at lower costs is the integration and coordination of care among providers. The use of a case manager is an excellent way to achieve these goals.
As stated on the GE Healthcare Camden Group Insights Blog in the article “7 Steps to Achieving Clinical Integration”, “New payment models are making it more important than ever for hospitals to collaborate with physicians. From readmission penalties to bundled payments to ACOs, providers have a growing economic incentive to pool resources, share information, coordinate care and services and cooperate on quality improvement.” Again, the case is made for effective management among hospitals, providers, and payers.
In a recent interview a former manager at a local hospital was describing to me the goals of case managers at a hospital. At the hospital, a case manager is to manage the discharge of the patient from the hospital so as to prevent readmission for the same cause as the initial admission, as hospitals are penalized for doing so. In an interview with my son, who is an RN and was employed as one for a large, national payer, the goal of a case manager was to minimize the costs of medical care for the patient while providing good care. The goal of the case manager in a physician group is to drive down risk, to improve the quality of care, for the patient. The goals of case managers at all three types of sites is the triple aim-improve population level health, improve patient satisfaction and drive down costs.
How do case managers at each of these three sites reach their goals? What is their scope of work at each site? In a hospital setting one typically coordinates the discharge of a patient. This is a very complex task and is fairly new to many hospitals. One make sure that patients have a follow-up appointment with their primary care physician or specialist within two weeks after discharge or sooner if medically necessary. At discharge she will confirm with the patient the date and time of the follow-up appointment. If there is a problem with getting transportation to the appointment then the she will work to find ways to get the transportation, including working with the insurer if needed.
The hospital case manager will also go over the discharge instructions from the doctor, explaining what the patient needs to do once she is at home. For instance, in the case of knee replacement surgery the manager will explain to the patient what to do to manage pain, what exercise the patient will need to do at home, including visits from a physical therapist if it is covered. He will also discuss the care of the incision site and what to do if an infection develops after discharge. Good ones make sure that the patients understand the instructions and that they are able to accomplish them.
My son as a one for a large insurer worked with patients who had high risk scores as defined by the insurer. Most had comorbidities. These patients were contacted and asked if they wanted to work with a case manager. If they answered yes, then he would contact them and provide insights into their conditions through education. If he discovered that they were not receiving all the medical help that they needed according to standards of care for their condition he would offer to make appointments for them with their doctor. If they could not afford their medications, he would work to find a way to reduce the costs. If they needed transportation to an appointment, he would arrange that for them. In other words, he made sure the patients were getting the level of care needed to effectively manage their conditions so as to prevent progression of conditions to a state that would need more costly care.
Case managers in physician practices often do the work that a physician wishes he/she had time to do. For instance, a case manager, having access to details of medical records that managers at other sites do not, may track indicators for patients with serious conditions. He/she may track the A1c levels of diabetics. Registries can help with this. If the level is too high the manager will contact the patient to see if further education is needed. Perhaps the manager will have the patient come in for this education and the two will problem solve how to lower the patient’s A1c level.