Being diagnosed with cancer is a stressful experience, to say the least. In addition to understanding the diagnosis, reviewing treatment options, and unpacking the financial ramifications – just keeping track of everything can be a lot to deal with.
It may seem obvious, but providing patients with a comprehensive care plan can ease some of the distress and anxiety that the patient is surely experiencing and, at the same time, empower patients in their care. It provides newly diagnosed patients with a clear roadmap and prepares them for what is ahead. It also helps them get a clearer picture of life after treatment.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) comprehensive care plan, which is a requirement for Oncology Care Model participants, includes 13 key components, including things like treatment goals, expected quality of life and estimated total and out-of-pocket costs.
This type of plan helps the provider and patient review important information in a holistic way and, when done well, can be a resource for the patient and their care team throughout treatment and beyond. Often times, however, if a plan is created at all, it is incomplete or becomes a static document to be scanned and stored in the EMR. A printed copy may useful to the patient until it is misplaced or, as is very likely, something changes regarding diagnosis, treatment or some other aspect and the patient’s condition.
A New Kind of Care Plan
Navigating Cancer’s Care Plan module makes it easy to create a plan that will not just help you comply with various program requirements, but also empower your patients in their care. It gives providers a template to generate a consistent and complete care plan that can be shared with the patient electronically or in print form. It acts as a living document that is automatically updated as changes occur. It also accommodates additional relevant care plan documents, such as financial cost estimates, advanced directives and even full care plans created outside the platform so the patient can access this information all in one place.
Information previously entered into the EMR is automatically pre-populated into the plan, such as demographics, insurance, care team membership, and medications.
Care plans create a way to connect with patients on their treatment goals and allow for managing the patient relationship on an ongoing basis. As new information is provided by the patient or if changes are made in the EMR, the plan is updated to reflect that.
Navigating Care’s Care Plan template contains all thirteen sections of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended care plan. When a plan is initiated, the number of IOM sections that have been completed is shown, creating an easy way to track each plan’s percentage of completion. This enables practices to easily track and report on compliance for programs like the Oncology Care Model where a care plan is a requirement.
With Navigating Care, you can be certain your patients’ care plans are complete, accessible whenever needed and always up to date. Contact us today to learn more.