Importance of Care Coordination
NURS FPX 4050 assessment 3 Care Coordination Presentation to Colleagues CG
Often, poor primary care coordination is associated with increased medical errors, high costs of Medicare programs, patient dissatisfaction, repeated hospitalizations, excessive utilization of prescribed drugs and overall poor patient outcomes. Consequently, healthcare spending increases especially following unnecessary hospital readmissions. Based on research reports, an approximate of 40 billion dollars are spent yearly from the impact of poor care coordination instances. This illustrates how effective coordination can positively impact the quality of care and patient outcomes. Care coordination can help enhance communication on patient care between transitions, for instance, between primary care providers and speciality service providers. When communication is affected, information sharing between care providers is enhanced (Schultz & McDonald, 2014) hence reducing medical errors and saving patients from incurring high costs. Having illustrated the importance of care coordination, it is essential we elaborate on strategies for collaboration with patients and families.
NURS FPX 4050 assessment 3 Care Coordination Presentation to Colleagues CG
Effective strategies for collaboration with patients and families
Patients and families are often considered important partners when collaborating to ensure care coordination. There are several strategies for collaborating effectively with patients and families to ensure quality and patient-centered care. However, in this presentation, we shall consider two broad strategies: cultural competence approaches and drug-specific education interventions. Cultural competence strategies for collaboration provide the nurses with the ability to effectively deliver care services that meet patients’ social, cultural, and linguistic needs (Saha et al., 2008). As nurses, a collaboration between patients and families requires that we respect their cultural and religious beliefs that may conflict with treatment plans and use the language and terms that patients can understand. When care providers acknowledge the influence of cultural factors on health plans, care coordination is made effective, leading to patient satisfaction. Another strategy of collaboration is ensuring that the patients and families have basic knowledge on specific drugs, perhaps in terms of their side and long-term effects and their importance. In other words, as nurses, collaborating with patients and families to enhance care coordination requires that patients make their own medical decisions without being influenced. This way, patient-centeredness is demonstrated, and they feel empowered and confident in their health outcomes. Another way of thinking drug-specific education is a collaboration where patients and families are taught self-care strategies (Swan et al., 2019). Through constant communication and collaboration, care coordination is enhanced. Having looked at the strategies, it is important that we focus on aspects of change management that may directly affect elements of the patient experience, essential to the provision of high-quality and patient-centered care.
Aspects of change management and patient-centered care
Care coordination that is patient-centered can be associated with patient participation in practices of own care so that their needs are effectively addressed. Patient participation is more appropriate, especially when health costs are high. However, it is unfortunate that patients are not often involved in healthcare decisions, yet they are major stakeholders. This can influence their attitudes towards the quality of care provided and their satisfaction. In a way, it is our responsibility as nurses to ensure that patients are proactively engaged in healthcare plans to allow them to accommodate changes as they reap the benefits of quality and patient-centered care. This is where change management is helpful. According to (Harrison et al., 2021), change management involves the process of supporting patients through change by allowing them to shift their attitudes and behaviors so that desired outcomes are reached. In this case, healthcare providers are responsible for helping patients understand changes in healthcare services and the need for the change. Once the patients embrace the changes, care is coordinated. Therefore, it is important that, as nurses, we ensure patients play their active role, and we guide them through the change to ensure high quality and patient-centered care. Let us look at the rationale of coordinated care plans and ethical decision-making.
NURS FPX 4050 assessment 3 Care Coordination Presentation to Colleagues CG
The rationale for Coordinated Care Plans on Ethical Decision-Making
Coordinated care plans under the influence of patient care are based on several factors that healthcare providers should consider before arriving at a more ethical decision. To mention but a few, the forces involved include good relationships with the patient and colleagues, knowledge and skills based on the underlying issue and a basic understanding of ethical principles. Ethical decision-making is essential in achieving coordinated care, especially when it comes to sharing of information between healthcare providers where ethics apply. An ethical approach to coordinated care plans ensures that the healthcare professionals support the required standards and regulations favorable to realizing the quality and patient-centered care. Also, coordinated care decision-making is guided under ethical principles, including patient autonomy and utilitarianism. The utilitarianism principle assumes that care providers and patients will make a decision based on fairness and regardless of the outcome (Vearrier & Henderson, 2021). The patient autonomy principle requires coordinated care and allows patients to make their own decisions without healthcare professionals influencing them (Jacobs, 2019). This way, care is coordinated between the patients and care providers on the basis of ethical decision-making. Further, let us consider healthcare policy provisions on outcomes and patient experiences.
Healthcare Policy Provisions on Outcomes and Patient Experiences
Overall, healthcare policy provisions potentially impact patient outcomes and experiences. In one way, healthcare policy can compromise a patient’s choice to make decisions regarding the healthcare goals and intended outcomes. Navigating through the policies may lead to complicated patient care and eventual difficulties in care coordination. However, specific policies such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have positive implications for caring coordination processes. For instance, the policy benefits patients by allowing them access to coordinated care, reducing hospital costs since patients are allowed to access health insurance as well as tax relief provisions and hospital admissions are reduced (Cleveland et al., 2019). Through the idea, care coordination is facilitated, and quality outcomes are due to reduced reported mortality rates.
Nurse’s role in care coordination
Nurses serve an essential role in care coordination since it is associated with improved patient outcomes and lower costs. Nurses develop care plans guided by the patients’ needs and preferences, educate patients and their families at discharge on particular drugs and support patients in managing their healthcare goals, including connecting them with community resources (Swan et al., 2019). Overall, nurses facilitate care coordination in healthcare that is patient-centered, and that is aimed at realizing improved patient outcomes. Therefore, as a healthcare community, our collective duty is to ensure we embrace care coordination in the facility for better healthcare outcomes.
References
NURS FPX 4050 assessment 3 Care Coordination Presentation to Colleagues CG
Cleveland, K., Motter, T., & Smith, Y. (2019). Affordable care: harnessing the power of nurses. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 24(2).
Harrison, R., Fischer, S., Walpola, R. L., Chauhan, A., Babalola, T., Mears, S., & Le-Dao, H. (2021). Where do models for change management, improvement and implementation meet? A systematic review of the applications of change management models in healthcare. Journal of healthcare leadership, 13, 85.
Jacobs, G. (2019). Patient autonomy in-home care: Nurses’ relational practices of responsibility. Nursing Ethics, 26(6), 1638-1653.
NURS FPX 4050 assessment 3 Care Coordination Presentation to Colleagues CG
Saha, S., Beach, M. C., & Cooper, L. A. (2008). Patient centeredness, cultural competence and healthcare quality. Journal of the National Medical Association, 100(11), 1275-1285.
Schultz, E. M., & McDonald, K. M. (2014). What is care coordination?. International Journal of Care Coordination, 17(1-2), 5-24.
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).
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.Vearrier, L., & Henderson, C. M. (2021, June). Utilitarian principlism as a framework for crisis healthcare ethics. In Hec Forum (Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 45-60). Springer Netherlands.
