What Is Chronic Care?
Chronic care is health care that addresses long-term or preexisting illnesses. Simply put, those are diseases or conditions that last a year or more and require ongoing medical care or limit the activities of daily life. They can include physical health conditions like diabetes, and mental health conditions like depression.
Often, chronic care is a patient-based approach that requires the services of a variety of health care providers, including nurses, pain management professionals, behavioral health care case managers, and other specialists. Chronic conditions can be complex to treat, because they require services from a variety of professionals, sometimes multiple medications, and various medical equipment, and because the treatment is extended over a period of time.
Thankfully, providers like HealthKeeperz deliver case management through home- and community-based care that allows many clients to maintain their health right at home. Through personalized attention and coordinated care, a team of professionals can provide a patient-based approach to case management and remain involved in a patient’s personal health management regimen. This allows many individuals with chronic illnesses the resources to help them better understand their conditions, and to manage their health and symptoms from the comfort of home.
“The HealthKeeperz team of home health professionals is dedicated to helping you thrive at home,” reads the website. “Our team includes skilled nurses, physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, medical social workers, and home health aides. Working as a team and with your physician, HealthKeeperz home health professionals develop a plan of care centered on you and your goals. Our goal is to help you become as healthy and active as possible.”
Chronic Care Goals
By balancing treatment regimens, medications, and services like case management, chronic care aims to maintain wellness by keeping symptoms in remission. The overall goal of HealthKeeperz’s chronic care and case management is to help patients achieve a better quality of life by balancing treatments and self-care. Based on the patient's needs, the case plan can include goals like increasing mobility, reducing pain, improving sleeping, and decreasing stress so the patient can improve their standard of living, such as returning to work or hobbies.
Working together with their HealthKeeperz team, the patient is supported and empowered to practice self-care, increasing their responsibility in managing their own health care independently. HealthKeeperz collaborates with patients and helps educate them on their treatment regimens and conditions, which helps motivate them so they can play an essential role in monitoring their health and conditions.
What Is Case Management?
HealthKeeperz case management services help patients avoid hospitalizations while maintaining their independence at home. By integrating home health care, providing home medical equipment and supplies, and helping with other wellness services, HealthKeeperz aims to assist patients in making choices that improve their overall health, promoting dignity and empowering patients with care and compassion.
HealthKeeperz explains, “HealthKeeperz delivers case management services aimed at helping our patients avoid hospitalizations while maintaining their independence at home. By integrating home health, hospice, and home medical equipment and supplies, HealthKeeperz has the unique ability to add value to the health care continuum for the people of North Carolina. Our primary goal is to assist our patients as they make choices that improve their overall health status.”
HealthKeeperz case managers develop personalized and comprehensive plans of care for each client, to help ensure that the client is safe at home and receives quality professional services based on their individualized needs. Case management encompasses a variety of medical and professional services, including planning, organizing, completing assessments, and providing direct care for clients’ rehabilitation and recovery.
Case managers make regular home visits, and can help the patient make hospital appointments, provide specialist medical treatment, and be a source of information for clients and their support systems. Direct care providers might include social workers, nursing assistants, and registered nurses, depending on the patient's case management goals.
Case Management Goals
The overarching goal of generalist case management is to provide preventive care. By uniting all the health care providers to collaborate, the goal is to keep the patient healthy and avoid hospital visits. For example, at HealthKeeperz, case managers work with clients, providing them with resources to maintain their current level of health. This preventive care helps manage acute episodes to avoid their health from declining and stop the further progression of their chronic conditions.
What’s the Difference Between Chronic Care and Case Management?
Unlike generalist case management, chronic care management is a service provided only to Medicare beneficiaries with more than one chronic condition. Medicare pays in full, or makes partial payments, if the patient has two or more chronic conditions that are estimated to last at least a year.
This can include a comprehensive care plan including health records, managing and coordinating other health care providers, medication care, and other services to manage their condition. This can include direct home visits and virtual services held over the phone or online. According to some studies, chronic care management helps reduce health care costs by preventing hospital readmissions and improves the overall health of a patient in managing their ongoing chronic conditions.
Which Is Best for Recovery?
Depending on the patient's individualized needs, chronic care management and case management are both evidence-based approaches. Both involve qualified and certified professionals that advocate on behalf of their clients so they receive the best level of care. At HealthKeeperz, case managers provide an intake and assessment to determine the client’s strengths and needs. Both can be adapted to meet the specific needs and resources of the client, so it's best to meet with a HealthKeeperz case manager to determine the best health care plan for you.
How To Find the Right Provider
To find the right provider, there are a few simple steps someone living with a chronic condition can take. It’s recommended to read client testimonials of organizations and reviews from past and current users of their services. Make a list of questions and deal breakers so when you meet with them you can ensure you’ve found the right provider.
At HealthKeeperz, the experienced and diverse team has the skills to support your situation and help you achieve your goals. The team specializes in a range of areas and educational backgrounds, so no matter how complex your chronic care needs are, we can help identify what services are best suited to your needs. To find out how HealthKeeperz can assist you, visit the HealthKeeperz website to have your needs assessed and begin the intake process.
Says HealthKeeperz: “??We strive to have a positive impact on the health and wellness of our patients, improving quality of life for individuals and health outcomes for our state. Through a comprehensive set of community-based, home health care, products, and services, we offer a better chance at a dignified, more active life for those we serve.”
