With the right care management tools you will be able to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction rates, while reducing stress levels for your team.

The Importance of Chronic Care Management 

The majority of adults in the US have a chronic disease or chronic illness. In fact, two in every five US adults live with multiple chronic conditions. 

Common chronic conditions include asthma, diabetes, cancer, mental health conditions and heart diseases. While some of these conditions can be easily managed with the appropriate treatment, they can also prove fatal. Chronic disease and illness are currently the leading causes of death and disability in the US.

Chronic care management is essential for empowering patients to live fulfilling lives, be active in the workforce and reduce the likelihood of an early death. 

Chronic conditions typically affect multiple facets of a patient’s life, which means an appropriate care management plan should include care coordination between various healthcare professionals. This can, however, present day-to-day challenges. It is often more costly for patients and care agencies, while communication breakdowns can lead to lower standards of care.

How Care Management Tools Facilitate Better Care Coordination

Care coordination software can improve the home care experience for patients and caregivers alike. Plus, it will enable you to spend less time on routine admin tasks and more time on the things that really matter, such as training team members and growing your business.

Easier Care Planning 

Care coordination software will give you the overview you need to create a comprehensive plan for chronic care management. You’ll be able to prioritize patient needs by allocating each client a care team of diverse professionals. Intuitive caregiver-patient tools will enable you to quickly assign the most appropriate team members.

Per-patient views of the schedule will help with care coordination as you get an at-a-glance confirmation that every client is receiving the services they need. And having all your client documentation in one place will also make it easier to compare scheduled services with the patient’s needs and goals.

Improved Communication Between Caregivers

Communication between caregivers and health professionals is a cornerstone of care coordination. That’s why document sharing systems are built into care coordination software.

Your care team won’t just be able to access care plans via your care management software. Approved team members will also have instant access to the latest progress notes. This will help them gain a better understanding of the patient’s current condition and needs, and in turn, support them in making better care decisions.

Reduced Costs

Care management of chronic conditions can be costly for patients and home care agencies alike. Care coordination software, however, can help you reduce costs and offer more efficient care services. This will improve your financial resilience while making it easier for patients to access the care they need.

Using digital tools will save you hours of admin work on everything from onboarding and scheduling to billing and payroll. In doing so, it can reduce the administrative costs associated with each client.

What’s more, care coordination and management software can help you schedule more effectively and reduce the time caregivers spend on paperwork. This will further cut down on the labor costs for each client, as well as potentially reduce transportation costs.

Streamlined Patient and Family Education

Educating patients and their families on how to better manage their chronic illness is an important element of providing transformative care. Whether it’s how to recognize and respond to hypoglycemia symptoms or how often to do physio-prescribed exercises for keeping joints mobile, this information often plays a vital role in improving patients’ health.

Care coordination tools can help you by facilitating communication with patients and their loved ones. With dedicated client portals, you can share important documents, video links and more. Clients can easily access this information whenever they need to. Unlike a printed sheet of exercises, it won’t get lost or become illegible with time. 

Plus, using the very same portal, clients and their loved ones can request further information on how to better manage their conditions.

Better Health Outcomes 

Patient outcomes are the truest measure of a healthcare system’s success. Care coordination software will support you in improving health outcomes. They will ensure that patients are scheduled to receive all the care they need. Moreover, they will guarantee that team members have access to all the information they need to provide excellent care.

Tools That Make Chronic Care Coordination Straightforward

Better care coordination can improve patient outcomes and lead to more patient centered care. This is especially true for chronic care management, where patients often need care from various health professionals.

The right care management tools will facilitate your care coordination efforts through instant information sharing and easier care planning. They will help you reduce the amount of time you spend on daily admin tasks while ensuring that your carers always have the support they need to provide quality care.

ShiftCare’s care management software is designed around the needs of home care agencies. It makes it easy to add new clients to the system, set up care programs with multiple nurses and caregivers, and track progress. The document management system supports care coordination by instantly sharing progress notes, incident reports and care plans. You can also provide updates for patients and their family members with a click of a button. 

Discover how the right care coordination tools can support your team in meeting every client’s care needs, no matter how complex they are. Try ShiftCare for free.