Patient Care Systems – Everything You Need To Know

Patient care management is a program of comprehensive health services to help patients manage their health, from primary care practices like scheduling appointments to short-term case management to chronic illness care management.

Care management plans improve care coordination by helping patients manage overall healthcare needs better when following simple directions from trusted clinicians and caregivers. The patient care management process is designed to improve the development of healthcare models that provide the best treatment methods and allow patients to take ownership of specific healthcare goals.

It's a hot topic for health organisations whose patients are getting more complicated to care for. If this describes you, read on. I'll cover topics to give you some ideas on things your practice can do to provide the best possible care for your patients.

Patient Care System? Doesn't That Just Happen?

Even though it seems like patient care management should happen automatically without giving it too much specific attention, this isn't true. The best patient care management is a by-product of a systematic approach to putting yourself in your patient's shoes and finding ways to be better at meeting their needs during the treatment process.

An example of this would be talking directly with your patients to understand their main frustrations are extended waits before being seen for treatment. These problems can be solved through the implementation of a scheduling and appointment-setting system.

Achieving patient care should be an iterative approach that you work at by gathering information and making small improvements over time.

The Main Elements Of Patient Care Management

The main elements of patient care management involve tracking patient data, coordinating care, managing administrative tasks, and implementing strategies to improve patient care.

Patient Data

Patient data typically includes basic information such as name, date of birth, and insurance information. It can also consist of medical records, medications, and patient history.

This information is used to help your staff (and other practitioners) make informed decisions about a patient’s care and treatment. For example, a patient’s allergies or previous surgeries may impact the medications you prescribe. Other uses of patient data include research, billing, and public health monitoring.

Managing patient data means collecting and storing patient information correctly, keeping it secure from unauthorised access, and using it lawfully.

Patient data is governed by health laws (which are quite strict in Australia), and you, as the healthcare provider, are responsible for protecting patient privacy and confidentiality.

This is all goes to say that if you want to provide great patient care management, your practice needs to comply with data protection laws and do a good job managing patient data.

This sounds daunting, but patient care management systems like eClinicalWorks and NextGen are usually the answer here. These systems do most of the heavy lifting, and instead of intitmately understanding how to manage patient data, your job becomes following the framework of the software.

Coordinating care

Coordinating patient care involves organising patient appointments, consulting with specialists, and managing patient follow-ups. Effective patient care management relies on coordinating care between medical practitioners, allied health professionals, and patients.

For instance, a patient care manager who ensures all of a patient’s appointments are booked in a timely manner is using a patient care management system to coordinate patient care.

Doing a good job of coordinating patient care means patients receive the care they need when they need it. Even if your care team is getting results, if you're dropping the ball on coordinating care, your patients will let you know about it (not in a good way!)

Managing administrative tasks

Managing administrative tasks is a pretty broad umbrella, but it usually includes managing patient records, billing, and scheduling appointments.

Managing administrative tasks allows patients to access medical care and treatment. It ensures that all patient information is kept up to date and that the clinic can continue to operate effectively.

Getting this part right isn't tricky. It's just admin work at the end of the day. But it needs to be handled by someone with good attention to detail to ensure things don't fall through the cracks, and processes are undertaken in a structured way.

We've written more about structuring your processes and creating standard operating procedures in an article focusing on how to manage a medical practice.

Improving patient care

Improving patient care is all about implementing strategies and processes to enhance the level of care patients receive at a clinic.

A common example of this is implementing a system (or standard operating procedure) to improve the way patient records are managed, which in turn improves patient safety.

Improving patient care focuses on refining the service provided to patients. This is a pretty nebulous statement because it could touch so many things; appointment booking and reminders, the quality of your equipment (like treatment tables), the information you provide patients during treatment, patient correspondence (emails, text messages), taking on patient feedback, and dozens of other touch points.

Capturing patient concerns

The best way to quickly improve your level of patient care is to first understand the problems your practice is facing through patient centred care. You might have some success doing this by gut feel, but a much better approach is asking your patients.

A good way to do this is by implementing a patient care management system that includes a feature for recording patient concerns.

These kinds of systems can be run on an iPad that your reception staff give to patients on an iPad. The surveys shouldn't be complex. The idea is to create a form that patients fill out at the start (or finish) of their clinic visit to record any concerns they have.

Another piece of advice for capturing patient concerns is to train staff on how to communicate with patients effectively. A staff member can ask a patient if they have any concerns and, if they do, write them down. This approach is a little more hit-and-miss because patients will often avoid confrontation and simply say they don't have concerns even if they do.

Achieving Patient Privacy

To achieve patient privacy, you must understand the law and ensure that your clinic complies with it (or find a good consultant to get you up to speed). As a healthcare organisation, it's your responsibility to understand how patients’ consent impacts their privacy and what to do if a patient wants to access their records.

Your clinic must have the systems in place to ensure that patient information is kept secure. If you're operating in Australia and using software to help with this task, make sure they're compliant with our rules and regulars, particularly where they store their data.

Communication

How you and your team speak with patients can have a surprisingly large impact on your patient's implied care. Your team should be able to communicate clearly and respectfully with patients. They need to be able to explain what care a patient will receive, why they will receive it, and how much it will cost.

This sounds straightforward, but it's one of those things that needs to be actively reviewed and discussed, especially with new hires.

Depending on how big your practice is, it's worth building a set of guidelines for how your team communicate with patients to make sure they get all the information they need and are treated with a bit of empathy.

Ensuring Compliance

Ensuring compliance boils down to keeping up to date with the latest laws and understanding how they impact your clinic. The swathe of rules and regulations can feel overwhelming and unmanageable. But the regulations are grounded in patient care and safety.

Ticking the boxes is necessary, but understanding the reasons behind laws and regulations and building processes into your team's operations will help your practice provide better care for its patients.

Quality Equipment and Fitout

While this is a bit of a self promotional plug, the better your equipment, the better care you can provide to patients. For chiropractors, physios, gynaecologists, massage therapists, and a range of other health professionals, high-quality treatment tables are a big part of this equation.

Kitting your practice with the latest and greatest Australian-made electric table will make your patients comfortable during treatment and help you achieve the best possible health outcomes.

Conclusion

Patient care systems aren't built overnight. They're often achieved through the combination of standard operating procedures and the combination of a bunch of different tools. As a rule of thumb, the best care happens when your team is actively looking for ways to improve how they help patients.