Archives for January 2019

Assessing Social Determinants of Health

Healthcare and homelessness are inextricably linked; homelessness is a social problem with enormous public health significance. It may exacerbate medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, or addiction, or those conditions may weaken a person’s financial stability and become a risk factor for homelessness.

As a case manager, you are in a unique position to assess social determinants of health impacting your clients. Identifying risk factors that may increase your client’s potential of homelessness helps you to proactively engage strategies to reduce the risk. It is nearly always easier to prevent the problem than to try to rectify it later.

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Relationship Building 101

Customers don’t buy from people they don’t trust, and the same is true in healthcare. As a case manager, you have the opportunity to make a significant impact on the level of trust your clients experience within the system, and therefore the outcomes they enjoy. You’re not just providing a service, but building a relationship with the goal of developing trust.

Over the past several years a proliferation of benefit designs and new delivery systems have moved healthcare beyond a traditional brick-and-mortar office, into retail and virtual settings. Consumers now have more choices than ever before.

Since health is one of the most important assets anyone has, it takes trust to allow someone close enough to effect a change. To impact the lives of others, clients have to be able to trust that you have their best interest at heart and will be their advocate.

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Effective Interviewing Techniques are Key for Care Managers

Famed motivational speaker Anthony Robbins hit the nail on the head with this quote on what leads us to life-changing, life-affirming behavior: “The quality of your life is a direct reflection of the quality of the questions you are asking yourself.”

If you’re a care manager, the same principles apply to the quality of questions you ask a chronically ill patient as you develop an effective care plan. In other words, only when you ask the right questions will you get the answers you need.

Asking good questions, however, takes practice and training in strategies like motivational interviewing. You aren’t born with great interviewing skills! A good interviewer can get a patient to reveal information without realizing what was said − significantly helping the healthcare team form a strong plan of care.

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Case Management Tips for Hospitals or Health Systems

Hospitals and healthcare providers are under increasing pressure to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction. Pressure may be driven by value-based reimbursement or from patients who are increasingly informed and deliberately pursuing treatment at hospitals or medical groups with a reputation for superior care and better outcomes.

Value-based care has emerged as a potential replacement for fee-for-service reimbursement, and it measures the quality of care a patient receives, rather than the quantity. Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services consider value-based care a key to improving healthcare quality and curbing costs.

That means care managers and healthcare providers need an arsenal of strategies to enhance patient experiences, improve outcomes, and reduce avoidable readmissions.

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How case managers can bridge gap between patients, providers

In the business world, team building and collaboration increases a company’s flexibility, productivity, and employee retention. Many of the same benefits apply to healthcare settings, where collaboration between patients and providers can improve patient outcomes, boost patient and provider satisfaction, and enhance the overall performance of the health system.

Case managers strive to engage patients and providers in collaborative planning so that patients may achieve successful outcomes and health systems and providers receive appropriate recognition and reimbursement.

A major task for case managers in hospital or health plan settings is helping patients manage chronic illnesses. While the details may depend on the illness and the patient’s age, collaboration between service providers and patients is a fundamental component to effectively managing chronic disease.

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