At every touchpoint of the patient journey, there’s a shared need to encourage and facilitate a proactive mindset toward healthcare. Working toward this goal requires an evolved approach to care delivery by medical groups and practices.
The Impact of Declining Care Utilization
An extensive amount of data has shown the dangerous declines in critical preventative screening, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The immediate impact resulted in a steep, rapid decline across all segments of care. One study found that preventive screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies, decreased by as much as 65% in the U.S. during 2020.
Decreases in Diagnostic Testing for Early Detection
While these numbers have started to improve, we’re still observing the secondary effects. A 2022 study led by the American Cancer Society highlights how the rate of cancer screenings in the U.S. have fallen in comparison to 2018 figures. These include the following:
- A 6% decrease in breast cancer screenings
- An 11% decrease in cervical cancer screenings
- A 16% decrease in colonoscopies for colon cancer detection
As patient behaviors have shifted, so too have those of providers to accommodate their patients’ accessibility to the care they need. Telehealth, in particular, is helping providers meet patients where they are; the expansion of telehealth has been fundamental in helping mitigate gaps in care created by the pandemic. But while preventive care numbers are trending in a positive direction, there’s still much work to be done.
How Virtual Care Management Helps Close Care Gaps
As the adoption rate of virtual care by both providers and patients increases, having a reliable virtual care management partner has become even more important. Virtual care management can help provide meaningful insights into patient decision making and preferences, as well as a deeper understanding of optimizing care — inside the office and out — for more effective provider operations and improved patient outcomes.
One of the biggest benefits of a virtual care management system is something providers and patients alike could use more of: time. More time for providers to make sure patients don’t slip through the cracks. More time for patients to take charge of their care. And more time for everyone to focus on what really matters — good health.
Virtual care management further empowers providers with the ability to extend care beyond the four walls of their practice or facility, maintaining visibility over their patients’ well-being outside of the traditional 15-minute appointment. This is thanks to impactful services (like Remote Patient Monitoring) that encourage accountability and a more proactive approach to healthcare.
Enhancing Chronic Care Management
Where virtual care management really shines is chronic care management. Monitoring and tending to chronic health conditions is one of the most consistently needed aspects of care. And it’s also one of the most resource intensive — for organizations big and small.
An effective chronic care management partner offers tools and services that integrate directly and seamlessly into provider organizations’ electronic health records systems. These offerings should provide consistent oversight of patients with chronic health conditions while also driving operational efficiencies and business objectives. Some ways that virtual care management can help healthcare organizations include the following:
- Automated care planning
- Day-to-day time documentation
- Medicare program compliance
- Financial impact tracking and reporting
- CCM billing support
Virtual care management can handle this backend work, giving providers more time to focus on closing care gaps and providing patients the best care possible.
Improving Behavioral Health Monitoring
Virtual care management has also shown a tremendous benefit in addressing behavioral health needs. With fewer barriers to accessing care, specialists can increase their availability and improve patient response time. Behavioral health monitoring also allows for the following:
- Enhanced visibility for the entire care team
- Early intervention to avoid escalation
- Medication management
- Effective monitoring of progress
Behavioral health monitoring can be quite time- and resource-intensive work and virtual care management ensures that your organization can handle it as efficiently as possible.
Why TimeDoc Health?
The implementation of virtual care is most effective with the flexibility to adapt and complement the existing systems and workflows in place within medical groups and practices. Virtual care management has many benefits. But if incorporating it into your current process is difficult, it can be a source of frustration and headaches.
By synchronizing with providers on an individual level, TimeDoc Health facilitates comprehensive care coordination and delivers valuable, actionable patient data to motivate proactive outreach and preventive care. We understand there is no one-size-fits-all solution and will work closely with you to pick and choose the services to fill your program’s gaps.
What to Expect
Our team of highly experienced care coordinators partners with your practice and staff to support operational functions and patient communications.
- Engage with patients on preventive measures: Your TimeDoc Health care management team will provide a broad range of support, including coordinating referrals, recommending patient assessments, obtaining medical equipment, assisting with transportation needs, and much more.
- Keep providers in the loop of patient health: Care managers align with the communication preferences of providers and their patients to maintain an open dialogue. TimeDoc Health’s electronic health records integration will give your team enhanced visibility into patients’ health status between visits.
- Coach and teach your patients: Through continued educational outreach, your care management team will provide your patients with helpful information to self-monitor their health with the objective of reducing risks of an acute health emergency.
We empower you so you can empower your patients. Together, we can help close care gaps, optimize patient outcomes, and improve your bottom line. Click here to request a demo.