Why coordinated care is important for independent primary care physicians

June 21, 2017

Leona Rajaee

Why coordinated care is important for independent primary care physicians Why coordinated care is important for independent primary care physicians June 21, 2017

Patient safety and quality of care are the highest priorities for any independent physician. Independent primary care physicians understand that patients see specialty physicians, have lab tests and screening tests done, and may even be seen in other healthcare facilities.

Coordinated care between all of these medical providers plays a large role for primary care physicians and can be a challenging task.

Why is coordinated care important? When providers do not communicate with each other about a patient’s care, it can lead to errors in medication doses or care plans, repetitive tests, and even more serious consequences.

Chronically ill patients, in particular, benefit from coordinated care between their providers. A recent study published in the Annals of Family Medicine found that patients under 65 years and patients with chronic conditions were the most likely to experience poor primary care coordination. The study also found that the “rate of poor primary care coordination” was highest in the United States, out of the 11 countries involved in the study.

Frustrations of poor care coordination

As an independent primary care physician, the task of coordinated care can be a frustrating challenge. You may struggle with receiving timely, accurate information from other providers regarding your patients. Too often, you may have to rely on the patients themselves for that communication piece.

Patients are not medical professionals and should not be expected to relay the necessary information between their providers. Given human nature, it is also quite probable that patients will not always remember everything they’ve been told by all of their medical providers, therefore would not be able to share it accurately. Even though your focus is on providing quality care, the lack of coordination can become an issue for your patients’ health as well as for the costs involved in providing that care.

At Elation Health, we understand your concerns. We are also focused on quality patient care. That’s why we introduced the Elation Provider Network (EPN), a smarter and more effortless way for providers to connect and share patient information with one another so they can provide better care for their patients.