A Gap in Quality Related to Care Coordination for Chronic Illnesses

Existing Initiative to Address Gap

A developing initiative called Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) aims to close the gaps in chronic illness care coordination by providing patients with a mobile app. An interprofessional team lead by physicians, advanced technology, and a round-the-clock approach to care transitions and chronic service impediments are all part of the program’s goal. As stated by KFF.org, the action plan establishes a number of objectives and measures in order to reach a goal of eliminating health and healthcare inequalities in the United States. There are more alternatives for low- and moderate-income people to get insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Existing Initiative Goals

The primary purpose of MIH is to fill up the gaps in community health, EMS, and post-acute care by utilizing the core capabilities of clinical professionals that currently exist in the community. MIH provides home and mobile health care, as well as risk management and telemedicine (Kralik, Price, & Telford, 2018). For instance, resources are put up in various areas to provide an efficient and rapid reaction and the availability of resources is tracked 24/7 to guarantee that resources are available in specified locations and that clinicians are protected from harm (Kralik et al., 2018). For those suffering from chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease, HHS is taking the lead in improving their health outcomes and results. Strengthening health and public health systems, teaching individuals to use self-management, providing providers with the tools, information and interventions they need, and supporting research about individuals with MCC as well as effective interventions are some of the steps mentioned in this section.

Existing Initiative: Development

Despite the fact that the health care improvement program has resulted in positive changes, continual communication difficulties and inadequacies continue to obstruct the health care system’s improvement efforts of higher excellence in healthcare systems. Additionally this has made it difficult to realize better-quality population at a lower overall cost for the patients and the care givers. The various interrelated barriers to advancement are particularly visible for patients who suffer from a variety of chronic ailments, which makes sense given their circumstances (Kralik et al., 2018). During care transitions, persistent communication challenges and poor integration of communication tools among health care practitioners cause delays in providing the appropriate health care services to these vulnerable patients and their caregivers. This has led to raised costs and reduced positive health outcomes for these patients and their caregivers. The health-care system in the United States is extremely fragmented, which has resulted in a gap in the provision of high-quality care for patients suffering from chronic diseases.

According to the Department of Health, chronic sickness in the United States is on the rise, and the aging of the population is expected to significantly exacerbate the social burden especially among the older generation. These ailments include hypertension, HIV/AIDS, heart disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory problems, arthritis and asthma. These days, healthcare is characterized by the aged, who are often the sufferers of chronic diseases that have a similar cause and have a significant impact on their daily life (Lemke et al., 2018). Due to the fact that these patients require long-term and diverse answers, it is critical to establish an optimal collaboration amongst specialists in order to provide integrated and unremitting care for the chronically ill.

Existing Initiative: Resources

Mobile Integrated healthcare program is usually funded by grants from the local authorities and the EMS budget, making it a public effort. Among the many mobile resources required are those for the management of chronic pain, paramedical services in the local community, and transportation to a medical institution of choice (Holman, 2019). Health care providers are also on board with this initiative. As a result of insurance companies’ desire for people to use in-network providers, patient treatment will be more efficient. With MIH, patients may get the treatment they need without having to go to the hospital’s emergency room, saving insurance companies money. The insurer benefits from the elimination of needless and costly tests and charges (Holman, 2019). There is a joint effort by Health Promotion and CDC National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and other significant global partners. This collaboration aims at supporting strategic efforts to prevent chronic disease as well as promote healthy living through the Global tobacco, Global Reproductive Health and Health Reports, and Global Cancer Burden.

Existing Initiative: Improvement

Chronic disease patients have a quality gap in care coordination despite multiple MIH initiatives to accomplish this aim. This is due to a lack of resources and a shortage of employees, among other things. In spite of grant funding, the program’s resources are insufficient to accomplish its objectives. The government has not made sure that the program has all the resources it needs to succeed (Lemke et al., 2018). Determining how many medical experts are needed for the program to serve all its vulnerable patients has proven difficult due to the wide geographical spread of the program’s beneficiaries. Bookings cites a lack of competent and medical staff, bad administration, outdated equipment, and inadequate funding as contributing factors to the healthcare system’s demise. Access to hospitals and physicians, shorter doctor wait times, better patient education on medical and administrative procedures, and open lines of communication between patients and their loved ones are just a few methods to make healthcare better.

References

Holman, H. R. (2019). Chronic Disease and the Healthcare Crisis. Chronic Illness, 1(4), 265-274. doi:10.1177/17423953050010040601

Kralik, D., Price, K., & Telford, K. (2018). The Meaning of Self‐care for People with Chronic Illness. Journal of Nursing and Healthcare of Chronic Illness, 2(3), 197-204. doi:10.1111/j.1752-9824.2010.01056.x

Lemke, M., Kappel, R., McCarter, R., D’Angelo, L., & Tuchman, L. K. (2018). Perceptions of health care transition care coordination in patients with chronic illness. Pediatrics, 141(5). doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-3168