Skip to main content

Enhancing Care Coordination to Achieve Better Outcomes

November 01, 2018 | Primary Care

The majority of patients interact with multiple health care providers across various care settings, which can result in fragmented delivery and a lack of continuity among a health care team. Care teams, including primary care physicians, specialists, retail health clinicians and pharmacists, are best-equipped to deliver high-quality care and provide effective treatment recommendations when working as a coordinated care team.

Care coordination refers to the organization and integration of information across providers and settings, and enables a more personalized experience for the patient. While data show that care coordination can improve delivery and lower costs for all patients, it is especially important for individuals managing chronic diseases that require the ongoing support of multiple providers.https://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/prevention-chronic-care/improve/coordination/caremanagement/index.html#vehicle

At CVS Health, our clinical collaborations and technological solutions enhance continuity and coordination among a patient’s care team. We’re committed to increasing care coordination to ensure patients can better manage their conditions.

Collaborating Across Clinical Settings

Continuity of care among providers enables better health outcomes, resulting in lower patient mortality rates.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/8/6/e021161.full.pdf At CVS Health, we improve continuity in care by collaborating with medical systems in the communities we serve. Through our collaborations with leading health systems, like Cleveland Clinic, we have the ability to be there more frequently for patients and deliver high-quality, affordable health care services.

MinuteClinic works with health systems to develop patient education programs, disease management initiatives and ways to better communicate with patients. Furthermore, we integrate our electronic medical records systems to streamline and share communication around all aspects of patients’ medical care.

Connecting Through Technology

Recent data show that Americans want their providers to better coordinate their care to improve connectivity across care settings. In fact, 62 percent of Americans believe that information sharing (i.e. electronic medical records) across care settings has a positive impact on health outcomes. Furthermore, 84 percent of Americans say it is important for their providers to utilize technology to communicate with one another, including pharmacists and retail health practitioners.

Consider, for example, that a patient may have to carry medical records and information to different sites of care. This can make it difficult to maintain continuity in care and promote earlier interventions, particularly for patients living with chronic disease. Comprehensive databases can identify health risks and enhance medication counseling.

At CVS Health, our technological solutions enable providers to operate as an integrated care team – ensuring that patients have the care they need at a price they can afford:

  • Our strategic partnership with Epic streamlines data sharing and strengthens connectivity, enabling interoperability with 90 percent of patient health records across the country.

  • We provide prescribers with visibility into specific benefit information and costs for their patients through our real-time benefits program, resulting in $120-$130 in savings per filled prescription.

For more information about CVS Health’s efforts to improve access to quality care across the nation, visit our Quality & Access information center and the CVS Health Impact Dashboard. To stay informed about the latest updates and innovations from CVS Health, register for content alerts and our bi-weekly health care newsletter.