Creeping Toward Care Coordination

When asked about interventions most likely to reduce the costs of healthcare, survey respondents identify these: adopt a care coordination plan, 69%; improve process efficiencies, 57%; automate systems and processes, 46%; and increase patient engagement, 44%.

When asked what initiatives their organization would adopt to control costs and improve care, 50% of the respondents say they would develop or join a patient-centered medical home; 48% say they would join an integrated delivery system. Manas says there are many variables involved in establishing a medical home, with success increasingly depending on patient responsibility.

Of those who have not embarked on a collaborative care program, 41% indicate they do not have interested partners to collaborate with, and 26% and 21%, respectively, acknowledge that their organization had no financial or strategic interest to do so. Mahan says the lack of interest might be attributed to healthcare systems "that could not find an interested partner, possibly because of demographics, or hesitancy within the culture of its relationship with physicians."

Chicoine explains that various organizations are dealing with coordinated care in different ways, depending on their needs and expectations, as a result of healthcare reform. "Some organizations are focused. They believe in coordinated care and population management," he says. In that way, it's "full steam ahead."