Connected Community Care Models will be so vital to the next generation of healthcare delivery that I’m going to explore this topic in my next few blog posts. In this series, I’m going to outline a few characteristics and best practices when aligning these services from a patient-centered perspective and how this affects the Return on Investment (ROI) for a healthcare organization.

We know that the most effective healthcare is often found and administered locally and that our local communities are being defined very differently today. These new online and offline community care models are sometimes more socially driven and less dependent on our actual locations. As a result, effectively integrating new innovations and technology within healthcare delivery is critical in order to sustain a viable program.

The worst thing you can do is start something for a patient and have it fall apart within a few months because it isn’t adequately supported. There may be bumps in the road, but with the proper planning and appropriate model in place, a successful health it program can be built to benefit the patient long-term.

Connected Community Care Models have a place in the healthcare continuum and can be strategically aligned with the patient’s needs to supplement gaps in care. We know unnecessary trips to the doctor or hospital can be avoided if proper treatments are received and are monitored regularly through a teaming or networking of providers that is coordinated properly. The successful execution of this clinical information exchange directly impacts patient outcomes and keeps continuity of care intact locally, while relieving critical access points of unnecessary patient encounters.

These strategies ultimately align with several Affordable Care Act policies impacting patients, healthcare systems and providers, so beginning to develop a process must begin sooner rather than later.

Stay tuned for my next post where I’ll discuss the transition into building the process for a new Connected Community Care Model.