Fierce Healthcare recently reported that community involvement and targeting high-risk patients are essential to implementing meaningful preventive care. According to the article, there are several other strategies to improving preventive care in hospitals, which include:
• Promoting health in the community. Providers should be engaging the local community about managing their own health.
• Focus on high-risk patients. To safeguard against heart disease, for example, patients with asthma, obesity and other risk factors should be screened and receive guidance to manage their condition.
• Address patients with multiple chronic conditions. Many of the top 5 percent of the most expensive patients have multiple chronic illnesses. Providers should be taking the initiative to help them manage their care.
• Provide patient screenings. Providers should find screening strategies that reduce over testing and over treatments without increasing risk to patients.
Improving care coordination through community involvement leads to better patient outcomes, overall satisfaction and reduces avoidable hospital admissions. Great Plains QIN is partnering with communities throughout the region to unite stakeholders, consumers and healthcare providers to improve preventive care, communication and care coordination – resulting in reduced hospital admissions, re-admissions and medication harm. To learn more, visit our Website.