Improving Rural Patient Care Outcomes through Educating Providers on the Benefits of Care Coordination

Abstract

Purpose: This Quality Improvement Project aimed to enhance provider knowledge at Benson Family Health Center about how care coordination can improve the delivery of preventative patient care and lead to better patient outcomes, thereby increasing the assignment of care coordinators to patients. Background: Patient-reported coordination of care is linked to more effective preventative care and lower hospitalization rates after receiving care coordination services (Elliot et al., 2020). It significantly improves clinical quality measures, showing better performance on 9 of 13 HEDIS measures, including breast cancer screening, osteoporosis management, rheumatoid arthritis therapy, and cardiovascular-care screening (Elliot et al., 2020). Additionally, better care coordination correlates with lower risk-adjusted mortality rates, more effective disease management, and fewer hospital admissions (Elliot et al., 2020). In rural communities, care coordination faces challenges due to increased poverty, limited access to healthcare specialists, and a lack of evidence-based research (Conway et al., 2016). Methods: One-on-one education was provided to primary care providers at the Benson Health Clinic on the benefits care coordination provides to quality of patient care. Evidence-based data was used to develop laminated cards with five key points illustrating the benefits of care coordination in regards to lower probability of hospitalization, more effective delivery of care and more effective disease management. Prior to the education a pre-survey was administered to providers assessing care coordination knowledge and willingness to refer a patient to a care coordinator. A post-survey was administered to providers after the education to assess if education had impacted a provider’s willingness to refer a patient to a care coordinator. The project employeda Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle for continuous improvement. Results: Theone-on-one education with providers lead to increased knowledge regarding the benefits of care coordination and an increased willingness by providers to refer patients to care coordinators more frequently. Conclusions: This initiative is expected to lead to increased usage of care coordinators with the goal of lowering the probability of patient hospitalization, increase delivery of patient preventative care and provide more effective disease management.