The modern-day healthcare industry is transforming from a high-cost disintegrated care model, to a unified low-cost, high-quality care model. During the transformation, Care Coordination Software plays an important role in how healthcare providers will manage their operations and deliver quality care at lower costs.
It becomes important for a healthcare system to implement Care Coordination Software (CCS) that collaborates operations and thrives in modern healthcare necessity. Choosing one among the many softwares available in the market may be a daunting task for healthcare providers. This article will help you understand every aspect of choosing the right CCS for your practice.
Why do you need Care Coordination at your practice?
Today’s healthcare system is complex and disintegrated. It consists of independent entities such as multiple specialty providers, insurers, government organizations, etc. The convolution makes it difficult for patients and providers to assess and impart quality health care at lower costs.
Care Coordination Software synchronizes the delivery of a patient’s healthcare from multiple providers and specialists to determine the effectiveness of treatment and health outcomes. Care coordination helps reduce unnecessary treatments and costs, hospital re-admissions, and treatment redundancies. The goal of Care Coordination software is to facilitate improved health outcomes and experiences.
Healthcare Providers have already made costly investments such as Electronic Health Records (EHR). But, to leverage them and reach one step closer to analyze, track, manage, and improve seamless patient experience, there is a sincere need of choosing the right care coordination software at your practice.
With a targeted & well-crafted care coordination system, it is possible to enhance outcomes for each one out there, including providers, patients, and payors.
It must support EHR collaboration
Not all electronic health records are designed to support the coordination of care among multiple providers for collaborating in a new care continuum model. Care coordination software needs to be a flexible platform. It should enable team-based care that allows the transfer of information with accountability and transparency across the continuum model and enable the EHR to share relevant and actionable information.
Don’t purchase Health Information Exchange (HIE) systems unless it is necessary
Some HIE vendors try to sell expensive and unnecessary HIE infrastructures claiming it to be a necessary care coordination tool. Using HIE infrastructure is impractical in a heterogeneous environment. Providers must look for a flexible care coordination platform that can interconnect with third-party HIE systems to fill in HIE capability gaps and support the care team across the continuum.
Look for multiple data type analytics rather than single data type analytics
To generate a quality report for care coordination across the continuum, the system must collect data from multiple data sources.
Analysing multiple data sources such as clinical data from HIE and EHR systems, administrative data from hospitals, and claims data from public and private payors leads to an indepth understanding of the performance, quality, and cost of care across the continuum. Multiple data type analytics also help in predicting future events, costs, and diagnoses.
Say no to the upfront license fee
Upfront license fees on a pre-determined user basis increases the cost of care. Care coordination utilizing Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) software is a more cost-effective approach, which offers a pay-as-you-grow structure. The Pay-as-you-grow model also allows organizations to add additional functionality and new applications that are proportionate to clinical strategies.
It must be compatible with portable devices
Portability has become a necessity in modern healthcare. Care coordination software compatibility with secure and intuitive mobile apps increases the productivity of a care team across the continuum.
Choose vendors who provide customer service and technical support
Working with new software can present challenges. Therefore, it becomes very important for providers to have a 24/7 support system. These services may not be included as a part of the software package, but providers should always ask for service and technical support when selecting a vendor.
No security means high risk
Care Coordination Software without security jeopardizes the provider as well as the entire care continuum. Providers should take every precaution to ensure their patient’s personal health information is protected by making sure the proper securing measures are in place.
Providers should specifically ask potential vendors the following questions:
Do they provide cloud security?
Do they provide special cloud security training?
What tools do they use to manage security?
What professional qualifications do they have to provide security?
Since HIPPA penalties are severe, all aspects of the Care Coordination System need to be HIPAA compliant.
To improve upon population health, Care Coordination becomes a bridge between clinical providers and patients. Choosing the right care coordination technology that helps flexible information-sharing and interactive cross-continuum communication will set you up for success, and will also help your healthcare setting to shift from intervention to prevention.
