In this series, we’ve been discussing how your healthcare organization (HCO) can support the caregivers who are caring for your patients and members and why it makes good business sense for you to do so. When the caregivers who are supporting your patients/members feel respected, seen and understood, it has many benefits for your organization, such as:
- More satisfied patients/members
- More conversions by showing your HCO’s value proposition
- Healthier patients/members by helping your patients/members adhere to their care plans
Let’s review what the series has and will cover:
- Part 1 discussed the guided journey you can offer for caregivers
- Part 2 exploreed how you can connect caregivers to support systems and services
- Part 3 considered the logistics of caregiving
- Part 4 identified caregiver types and the various permissions needed for each
- This article, Part 5 discusses the importance of open and quick communication among HCOs, patients/members and caregivers
Easy, complete communication is critical in caregiving situations
It comes with the territory that if your patient/member has a family caregiver, that patient/member probably isn’t going to be in the best of health. Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t need someone in the caregiver role. But it’s easy to forget about that until the patient/member has a sudden need for medical care, perhaps at an urgent-care clinic or emergency room.
It could be because of some new injury or rapidly developing condition. Or it could be related to an ongoing concern. Either way, the patient/member needs care right now. And it may not be possible for the caregiver to ensure that their loved one goes to their usual facility or hospital. Maybe they weren’t at home when the situation developed, or maybe an ambulance has to take the patient/member to the closest available facility for fast — even lifesaving — care.
It’s critical for everyone involved in care decisions, from provider and payer organizations to caregivers, to communicate quickly and effectively about what the patient/member needs in these situations. And your HCO can help. For starters, and most importantly…
Make it possible to quickly access patient/member data
Speaking from my own experience as a caregiver for my father — if something comes up and my dad needs care right away, I hope I’ll be able to get him to a facility within the provider organization system that normally cares for him. But urgent and emergency situations don’t often happen in ideal circumstances. It’s entirely possible that I’ll have to someday take him to a care facility outside his normal system. If that happens, it’s not good for anyone involved if I have to figure out how to get my dad’s medical records shared with this new organization:
- My dad, who’s already likely to be scared or irritated, will only have his feelings worsened if I’m distracted
- I’ll be upset by the situation and only more frustrated if I have to be distracted by this new wrinkle of hard-to-access information
- The provider will be working with one hand metaphorically tied behind their back if they don’t have the full information about their new patient
This problem only gets compounded if the caregiver has to take the patient/member to a care facility that’s out of the patient/member’s health insurance network. The payer organization will likely require transfer back to an in-network facility as soon as possible. So the caregiver will have to do the information-transfer rigamarole at least twice.
Wherever your HCO can, make it as easy and straightforward as possible for caregivers to share needed information from your EHR to another provider in times of need. This helps ensure quality of care and continuity of care in every situation. And it likely will help make life easier for care teams when patients come back into their systems after these emergencies. Work with your IT team to figure out where and how your HCO can allow quick records transfers to another system. What needs to be done on your end, and how can you make this process easier for patients/members and caregivers?
Teach caregivers what to say and do before a crisis
The healthcare system is complex and challenging for laypeople on their best days. And a caregiver who’s facing an emergency with their loved one is not going to be having their best day. But even if there’s no “easy button” for a technological solution caregivers can access in an emergency, you can still help prepare them ahead of time.
Find ways to share the information a caregiver is likely going to need to share with another provider or HCO. Whether that happens during an appointment with a provider, in a support-group setting or in prepared materials — or even all three — take opportunities to coach caregivers on what they’ll need to do and what materials they’ll need to provide in situations where they need to take the patient/member to another provider or facility.
Help caregivers understand what a triage nurse is likely going to ask about their loved ones. Make a list of the various records another organization will need to understand the patient/member’s condition, medication allergies, etc. And show them how to find and share this information as quickly as possible.
Of course, the ideal scenario involves the caregiver being able to do all this electronically. But if that’s not possible, encourage the caregiver to have copies, whether saved as PDFs or even printed out, and have them readily available to bring to care facilities in an emergency.
Facilitate instant communication between caregivers, family members and care teams
The expression “It takes a village” may have been coined in reference to children, but it definitely comes into play for caregivers and their adult loved ones as well. Whether caregiving duties are shared among siblings for an older adult or the primary caregiver hires help from a professional in-home caregiver, everyone needs to be on the same page about the patient/member and their care.
Allowing a space for those involved in caregiving for a patient/member to coordinate their efforts can help ease everyone’s mind. Not only does this type of solution avoid the communication of patient information in a potentially insecure text or email app, but it also could allow caregivers to easily refer to information about vital signs, prescriptions, etc. An added bonus: You could even allow a swift sharing of data to the patient/member’s primary care provider, specialist, etc., as needed.
Show caregivers that you care about them too
The need for caregivers is on the rise. Having the tools and procedures in place to ease the experience for them only makes the process better for your patients/members and everyone involved in their care. Our team is here to help you maximize the caregiver experience with our caregiver enablement approach.
To schedule an introductory workshop or learn more, contact us. We’d love to talk more with you about your challenges related to caregivers and their needs.
