The benefits of chronic care management (CCM) are straightforward for healthcare providers. Increased patient adherence to care plans, better health outcomes, and fewer hospitalizations are all excellent reasons to provide extra attention and guidance to those with chronic health conditions.
However, from a patient’s perspective, it will not always be so clear. Patients will understandably have questions about what the program includes, whether there is a cost, and how it will benefit them. Proactively educating these patients helps alleviate their concerns while encouraging more of them to take advantage of this highly valuable program opportunity.
Chronic Care Management: What Patients Want to Know
The first step in introducing your patients to the benefits of a CCM program is education, which includes not only educational materials like brochures and posters, but more importantly, one-on-one conversations where patients can ask questions.
Here are some of the most common questions your patients may have before and after enrolling in your chronic care management program:
1. Why should I sign up for the Chronic Care Management program?
The number one reason is that patients enjoy better health outcomes with CCM. For example, they may be less likely to:
- be readmitted to the hospital after 30 days
- be admitted to the hospital at any time
- visit the ER
CCM patients also see their physician more often those not enrolled, meaning providers have more opportunities to evaluate their health, identify changes, adjust their plan of care accordingly, and help them avoid complications of their condition.
2. How do I enroll?
Enrollment is simple and easy. With HealthXL’s Accelerated Enrollment Plan, patients can enroll over the phone in less than five minutes. They can also indicate their interest in enrolling while in your office for an appointment.
3. How much does the program cost?
Medicare generally covers 80% of the CCM patient cost. Many patients have a secondary insurance that will cover the remaining 20% of costs. For patients without secondary insurance, their co-insurance payment of 20% averages about $12 per month.
4. What type of monthly service can I expect?
The patient’s dedicated care coordinator will spend at least twenty minutes working on their personalized care plan each month. This may include reviewing the latest updates to the patient’s electronic health record, documenting any changes in their care plan, tracking down lab results, reconciling medications, and noting compliance with preventive screenings. Most importantly, the care coordinator will have a one-on-one conversation with the patient to make sure all is well and that no issues have arisen that you as the provider may be unaware of.
5. What conditions are eligible?
To quality for the Medicare program, a patient must have 2 or more chronic conditions that are expected to last at least 12 months, and/or carry significant risk. Examples of eligible chronic conditions include (but are not limited to):
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease
- Hypertension
- Cancer
- COPD
The HealthXL Advantage: Patient-Centered, Practice-Friendly Chronic Care Management
Patient education is a key component of a successful CCM program. When you partner with HealthXL as your chronic care management provider, we support you all along the way as you talk to patients and share resources with them about the benefits of CCM.
Once we collaboratively determine which patients would benefit from CCM, we reach out to them individually to provide an overall picture of what the program could mean for them. These conversations always take place in light of their specific diagnoses and meet all CMS compliance standards.
HealthXL supports every aspect of your program, from enrollment through monthly clinical service and billing coordination. Our ultimate goal is to improve the strength of your patient relationships by providing skilled, knowledgeable, and empathetic care between office visits as an extension of your practice.
Do you have questions about HealthXL’s chronic care management solution? Please send us a message! We’d love to share more about how you can get started building a successful program today.