Introduction
Hello, my name is (****************), and I’ve been a registered nurse for around four years. Today, I’ll talk about how care coordination improves patient care, improves patient outcomes, and has a direct impact on healthcare organizations. As nurses, we are responsible for patients and their families, and we must ensure that they are properly cared for throughout and after treatment. We may form strong bonds with patients by coordinating care as nurses, ensuring their health, well-being, and safety, and reducing re-hospitalizations and unnecessary medical visits.
What exactly is the meaning of care coordination?
As a registered nurse, I feel that care coordination is vital to providing high-quality patient care. Care coordination is the practice of coordinating a patient’s health care among many providers and experts. The goals of coordinated care are to improve health outcomes by ensuring that treatment from different providers is not administered in silos, as well as to assist lower healthcare costs by avoiding unnecessary tests and procedures. When it comes to good care coordination, several aspects come into play: 1. Access to healthcare specialists and alternatives is made more accessible. 2. Effective provider communication and transition between treatment options 3. Focus on the patient’s overall health care needs. 4. Clear and concise facts that the patient understands (Schurer et al., 2017). To be effective, nursing coordination is essentially a team sport that involves involvement from all care providers, including doctors, nurses, therapists, home care providers, and case managers.
Care Coordination Settings
As a fundamental professional competency, every registered nurse must be able to organize patient-centered care. As previously said, however, this is a team approach in which all healthcare personnel share duties. This needs care coordination in a variety of medical settings: A number of healthcare providers treat patients with chronic diseases and conditions using a “guided primary care” approach. In response to the rising issues of caring for aging Americans, a team of professionals from Johns Hopkins University developed the concept of guided care. Under the guided care technique, patients with a variety of chronic conditions are overseen by a highly experienced Registered Nurse (RN). The RN conducts initial patient assessments, interacts with primary care physicians to develop a treatment plan, and schedules specialized care with other providers to ensure that nothing is overlooked and that the program is followed (Bower, 2016).
The acute care coordination continues after the patient has received emergency treatment and has been discharged from the hospital. The acute care coordinator ensures an orderly transition of care by organizing follow-up visits, ensuring prescription prescriptions are given at the patient’s pharmacy and discussing follow-up instructions with patients and their families or relatives. They will also follow up with patients a few days after they leave the hospital to see how they are doing and address any issues. This initiative aims to reduce re-hospitalization rates, remove unnecessary emergency visits, and contribute to a decreased mortality rate (Bower, 2016).
Patients in rehabilitation, long-term care (LTC), or post-acute care (PAC) institutions may need to move between facilities, or between levels of care within the institution, if their health status changes. As a consequence, in order to cope with pharmaceutical transfers and update treatment regimens, clients need coordinated care. Under the successful approach, the care coordinator, usually a trained social worker, works with patients and their families to ensure that everyone is aware of their care plans and expectations. They also act as patient advocates, proposing services inside their hospital or from other organizations to ensure that patients have the highest quality of life possible (Bower, 2016).
Family Involvement
Patients’ families play a vital role in good care coordination as well. Their involvement enhances both the clinical and social elements of care coordination, which is especially crucial for the elderly and children. To properly coordinate care with family members, they must be included in the decision-making process, support the formation of a treatment plan, and develop realistic and measurable goals for both the patient and the family. A formal written treatment plan may be advantageous in certain circumstances to ensure that all members of the care team, as well as the patient and family, understand the goals and objectives of care. Involving everyone in the care process improves treatment adherence for patients who live in homes with family members (Swan et al., 2019).
Ethical Considerations
Every medical professional must uphold strong ethical standards. In order to work professionally and honestly, nurses and other health professionals need standards and norms in their sector. The American Nurses Association (ANA) has established an ethical code to achieve this purpose. Because nurses are patient advocates, they must find a balance while providing patient care. The four fundamental ethical concepts are autonomy, beneficence, justice, and non-maleficence (Concannon et al., 2019). As a consequence of national, state, and local regulations, there are increasing barriers to ethical considerations in care coordination. HIPPA, for example, is the most common piece of law that causes issues. In some instances, nurses must choose between disclosing sensitive information and protecting patient confidentiality. Nursing home employees must cope with circumstances in which patients are asked not to disclose their information to their relatives (Weaver et al., 2018). Caregivers are unable to successfully plan care in the face of such challenges without the full cooperation and honesty of all individuals concerned.
Government policies directly influence care coordination and the ability of caregivers to provide long-term care. The Affordable Care Act is one of the measures that raises the biggest ethical concerns in care coordination. While the program’s goal is to improve the quality of care for Americans, it sets limitations on those who are uninsured, such as illegal immigrants and those covered by Medicaid or Medicare (Weaver et al., 2018). Furthermore, the Affordable Care Act increases the national debt, which has a negative impact on healthcare expenditures. Government aid for nursing homes, life support centers, and other outpatient services have declined due to growing government debt.
Improving Care Coordination
Technological improvements in healthcare are very beneficial in terms of boosting care coordination. Electronic health record (EHR) systems may assist in reducing care fragmentation by boosting care coordination. EHRs enable the consolidation and organization of patient health information, as well as the rapid dissemination of that information to all authorized professionals involved in the patient’s care (Schurer et al., 2017). For example, EHR signals might be used to notify doctors when a patient is admitted to the hospital, enabling them to continue actively caring for the patient. Because of EHR, every doctor has access to the same accurate and up-to-date patient information. This is especially important for patients who see many experts, get emergency treatment, and move between various kinds of healthcare institutions (Schurer et al., 2017). Better care coordination may result in improved patient outcomes, cheaper healthcare costs, and higher quality of treatment.
Conclusion
Finally, it has been shown that delivering better care coordination to our patients via evidence-based practice improves patient outcomes and care quality. A multidisciplinary team approach, as well as policies and ethical standards, are essential to ensure optimal coordination when preparing for patient discharge or transfer to the next care facility. Care coordination improves utilization management patient experience, reduces readmissions and healthcare costs, and increases revenue/funding for healthcare providers.
References
Bower, K. A. (2016). Nursing leadership and care coordination: creating excellence in coordinating care across the continuum. Nursing administration quarterly, 40(2), 98-102.
Concannon, M., Gillibrand, W., & Jones, P. (2019). An exploration of how ethics informs healthcare practice. Ethics and Medicine, 35(1), 27-42.
Schurer Coldiron, J., Bruns, E. J., & Quick, H. (2017). A comprehensive review of wraparound care coordination research, 1986–2014. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26(5), 1245-1265.
Swan, B. A., Haas, S., & Jessie, A. T. (2019). Care coordination: Roles of registered nurses across the care continuum. Nursing Economics, 37(6), 317-323.
Swan, B. A., Conway-Phillips, R., Haas, S., & De La Pena, L. (2019). Optimizing Strategies for Care Coordination and Transition Management: Recommendations for Nursing Education. Nursing Economic$, 37(2).
write