Looking for actionable ways to improve patient care at your organization?
Then you need to start thinking holistically.
Think about the typical experience that your patients go through at your healthcare organization.
Walk into three different offices.
See three different providers.
Fill out 300 pages of paperwork.
And get three separate bills…
That’s nonsense.
Fragmented care is one of the biggest issues in healthcare today and it puts the burden on the patient to manage their health while going from provider to provider.
Integrated health services is a model of care that allows you to consolidate services and treat the patient “WHOLELY.”
How? By “integrating” providers to work together.
Let’s take a closer look…
Why Integrated Health Services?
When you hear “integration,” you may be thinking that all of your services need to be provided in one location.
That’s not true.
Providers can be in separate locations, but still collaborate with one another to ensure they’re giving patients the best care possible.
Here’s how it works.
When you integrate providers to work together, you break down silos that occur between providers.
Your primary care physician operates separately from your endocrinologist. Your psychologist barely communicates with your physical therapist. And what happens?
Patients suffer.
Not only does that model of care offer a horrendous patient experience, but it can also lead to poor patient outcomes.
When you look at integrated healthcare, you have teams of providers that work together to care for patients “WHOLELY.”
Let’s take a look at how you can use integrated healthcare to boost patient care.
Table of Contents
- Why Integrated Health Services Matter For Patient Care
- The Three Requirements Of Integrated Health Services
- Integration Improves Patient Care By…
- Breaking Data Silos For Integrated Care
- Future Of Integrated Health Services
Why Integrated Health Services Matter For Patient Care
Integrated health services really isn’t a new concept.
In fact, there are healthcare organizations such as Camelback Integrated Health and Wellness who have been doing this for decades.
Providers who take care of patients using an integrated care model will have teams that care for patients including:
- Primary Care Providers
- Specialty Care Providers
- Behavioral Health Providers
- Nutritionists
- Case Managers
- Care Coordinators
- Social Workers
- Pharmacists
- And more…
These providers work collectively to take care of patients medically, mentally, and socially.
Remember, providing integrated care means taking care of the patient WHOLELY.
Integrating providers to work together benefits patients because now a patient with diabetes, heart disease, and depression can see all of their providers in one place and know that they’re all communicating with each other.
Not only did 382 million more people gain access to critical health services in 2023 without being financially burdened, but 431 million more people can now receive essential health services in 2024.
Between 2023 and 2024 there was a 13% increase in people who could receive health services without some sort of financial burden. That’s because of integrated healthcare.
But here’s the crazy part…
Our nation’s health care system was NOT built to handle so many people who are living with chronic disease.
Currently, 76.4% of American adults have been diagnosed with at least one chronic disease and that number is only going to continue to grow.
If we don’t change the way we provide care to patients, our healthcare system will break.
Integrated healthcare allows providers to connect with patients more often so they can work on preventing disease and help patients better manage the disease they already have.
Think about how you can integrate your services to help care for patients WHOLELY.
The Three Requirements Of Integrated Health Services
Integrating your healthcare services sounds easy, but unless you have everyone under one roof working together, it’s easier said than done.
When you’re hiring new team members or you are full staffed and want to ensure everyone is on the same page, you have to establish three main requirements to provide integrated care to patients.
1. Providers Must Operate On Interdisciplinary Care Teams
Now this may be the obvious one. For providers to play on the same care team, they will have to provide you and your patients with “whole person care.”
What is whole person care?
Care that takes into consideration all aspects of your patient’s life including medical, mental, and social needs.
Having an INTERdisciplinary care team means:
- Primary Care Providers
- Specialty Care Providers
- Behavioral Health Providers
- Dentists
- Nurses
- Case Managers
- Nutritionists
- Social Workers
- Pharmacists
And those care team members need to COMMUNICATE with one another.
Each team member should have a say in what’s going on with the patient.
2. Providers Should Share Common Health Records
Information should be accessible to everyone on the patient’s care team.
If info is not shared between providers, there’s going to be a disconnect when it comes to care.
Each provider should have access to the same electronic health record so they’re not:
- Asking patients the same questions.
- Taking the same exams.
- Ordering duplicate testing.
Everything should be available in one place.
Not only will this decrease your patient’s time spent in your office, but it will also save you money by not ordering unnecessary testing.
3. Provide Patient-Centered Care
When you provide patient-centered care, you’re taking care of the patient’s medical needs, but you’re also asking what their goals are and how you can help them achieve those goals.
Put the patient at the center of everything you do.
Ask what matters to them and go from there.
You should also be asking what’s stopping them from taking care of themselves.
Let’s look at an example…
Jim takes care of his grandfather who has dementia. His grandfather needs to take his heart medication every day, but Jim’s grandfather hates taking pills.
So Jim hides his grandfathers pills in food every day so he doesn’t have to take them.
If you wouldn’t have asked Jim what was stopping his grandfather from taking his medication, you would have no idea he was hiding them in food.
Integration Improves Patient Care By…
Implementing integrated health services will improve your patient’s care by:
- Preventing diseases before they happen.
- Reducing hospital readmissions by ensuring patients understand their diagnosis and how to take care of themselves.
- Improving patient’s ability to manage disease by having a care team work with the patient to establish healthy goals.
- Increase patient satisfaction because your patients will appreciate receiving “hole” care.
See also: your health is deteriorating
Breaking Data Silos For Integrated Care
As you can see, there are tremendous benefits to providing integrated care.
Not only will your patients love that you’re taking the time to get to know them on a personal level, but you’ll save money by ensuring everyone is on the same page.
The only problem?
Breaking apart data silos.
As I mentioned earlier, in order for your care team to communicate with one another, you’ll need to have a centralized electronic health record.
Glenwood understands how critical it is for your patients’ data to be available at the click of a button.
That’s why they created their signature EHR software that allows providers to drill down into patients’ medical histories with ease.
Not only can you ensure your team is communicating with one another, but you’ll also be able to create smart workflows that will increase your team’s productivity.
Future Of Integrated Health Services
We’re already behind when it comes to providing quality care to patients.
Not only are people not going to the doctor to get checked because of the financial burdens, but we’re also diagnosing patients later than we should.
With integrated healthcare, we can change that.
Providers will be able to work together to keep people healthier for longer.
Imagine how many heart attacks and strokes we could prevent if we started focusing on preventative care.
Not only will integrated healthcare improve patients’ lives, but it will also save you money in the long run.
Sure, your organization may be spending money to hire more team members, but if those team members can prevent diseases before they happen, you’re going to save so much money by not treating those diseases.
Not sure where to start with providing integrated care? Implement it one patient at a time.
Ensuring your patients are getting the best care possible should be your main priority.
And with integrated healthcare, you can provide that for your patients.
