Description
Response one:
One innovative health care delivery model was initiated by the Advocate Physician Partners (APP) and Advocate Health Care which developed one of the largest Accountable Care Organizations (ACO); this ACA is referred to as the AdvocateCare (Wren, 2012). The purpose of this care delivery model was to decrease costs and length of hospital stays. After just six months of initiating this model, hospitals in Illinois had a decrease in readmissions by 10.6 percent and a decrease in emergency department visits by 5.4 since the previous year (Wren, 2012). The senior director of Advocate Physician Partners, Mark Shields, MD, states this rapid decrease is largely due to the outpatient care managers of the APP (Wren, 2012). If patients have beneficial resources and access to their needs after discharge, there is a greater chance of them not returning to the hospital to manage their medical needs. The model focuses on managing patients with chronic conditions who frequently return to the hospital. The delivery model used transition coaches to specifically work with high-risk patients to create stable home care services and minimize the need for longer, frequent hospital stays (Wren, 2012). This model is advantageous to patient outcomes because it puts the patient’s needs first. It is very unlikely that patients enjoy returning to the hospital because of chronic issues which are unmanageable at the time. However, when more effort is placed into outpatient providers and resources, patients are given a greater chance to succeed individually and limit their hospitalizations.
Wren, A. (2012). Three Care Delivery Models Transforming Health Care. Retrieved from https://www.optum.com/resources/library/three-care-delivery-models-transforming-health-care.html.
Response two: The Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) are care delivery models addressed in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). They address cost and quality of care for patients as well as improving health for patients. The current system is fragmented, without any single entity responsible for the overall quality and coordination of the patient’s care. The emerging patient-centered care delivery model’s success is very dependent on registered nurses. There are 3 models that are addressed in the PPACA. These are the accountable care organization, the medical or health home, and the nurse-managed health clinics. The high quality and low cost make it more accessible for patients to receive healthcare and enhance their overall health status, ensuring positive health outcomes.
I chose medical homes as an interdisciplinary care delivery team. They consist of an entire team of different professionals. This includes nurses, doctors, advanced practice nurses, social workers, physician assistants, pharmacist, dieticians, and any other professionals that may be needed for the care of the patient. This approach has multiple team members that coordinate with one another. This results in the patient’s needs being adequately managed. It also reduces health care cost by eliminating duplicate services. Medical homes use patient-centered care. They focus on preventative care and chronic disease management. The PPACA states that medical homes must provide safe, high quality care, through EBP and continuously seek quality improvements for better patient care. Medical homes reduce costs and improve patient outcomes.
Patient-centered approach concentrates on the patient’s needs. With an entire team of professionals working together it ensures that nothing is missed. With the focus on disease prevention and chronic disease management, patients are less likely to need hospitalization. It is much more beneficial to recognize a health problem early on, than to have someone rushed to the ER with something that could have been readily prevented or treated. From the doctor or advanced level nurse providing prescriptions, RN’s reinforcing education, nutritionist providing diet recommendations, or social workers ensuring that the mediation is affordable to the patient, the whole team works together.
American Nurse’s Association. (2010). New care delivery models in health system reform: Opportunities for nurses & their patients. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/~4af0e8/globalassets/…
