What is the Care Continuum?
The care continuum encompasses a patient’s healthcare journey throughout their lifetime –from preventative care to medical incidents and rehabilitation. When efforts are made to coordinate communication across health systems, a provider is able to understand and act in response to the entirety of their patients’ medical history versus the narrow scope they see at admission.
Current Obstacles
Current healthcare practices can be criticized for a focus on episodic care. This often leads to physicians treating patients for acute conditions without anticipated follow-up or prevention initiatives. In addition, the patient-physician relationship is compromised, and providers lose valuable rapport.
This lack of understanding and proper documentation initiates the negative cycle within episodic-based systems in which patients find themselves unhappy with their care or even develop acute complications. This becomes a burden to the entirety of the health system. It causes stress on physicians and care centers and displeases both insurers and patients facing the high costs of emergency treatment as opposed to preventative treatment over time.
It Pays to Unite the Care Continuum
So, where do the benefits lie in uniting the care journey of each patient within a health system?
“To be successful, providers must transition from discrete entities to collaborative networks focused on optimizing both outcomes and costs.” - Beckers Hospital Review
Technology and Efficiency
In a value-based care continuum, the logistics of a holistic care approach are supported by technology. Information systems, such as VitalsMD®, showcase a global overview of a patient’s medical history, provide alerts for key risk indicators, and communicate admission and discharge information with primary care physicians.
Patient Satisfaction
In addition, integrated record keeping across health systems increases physician efficiency and allows providers to better understand their patients’ medical history, enabling them to anticipate potential adverse reactions to treatment and avoid redundant and error-prone care.
Cost Efficiency
Furthermore, an integrated care continuum promotes financial gain for health systems who might otherwise be penalized for excessive avoidable readmissions and, in turn, promotes patient satisfaction.
It is increasingly clear that the future of value-based care will revolve around aligning financial incentives while promoting quality of care processes – ensuring better outcomes, patient satisfaction, and cost-efficiency.
Learn more about the goals of value-based care and what it means to hospitals, providers, and patients.
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