New Patient Management with a Plan!

Tracking Episodes of Care

When you welcome a new patient into your practice, do you provide a clear explanation of the types of care provided? Do you communicate the transitioning process from active care to maintenance care and back to active care when needed, including the parameters that measure these types of care? When you clearly explain the different types of care available in your office, you set the stage for communication with your patients in a way that encourages them to follow through with their active care into wellness care.

We all know that the best chiropractic care is lifetime chiropractic care that will maintain a healthy state of living where the body is functioning at an optimal level. We also know that stress happens, people get hurt, and functional levels decrease or are lost to a certain degree. This is when patients need active care.

Track Patient Progress

When we begin an active episode of care, we define a clear starting point as well as an anticipated end point for this episode. Using Outcome Assessment Tools and setting short- and long-term goals gives us factors to track patient progress. Talking with patients about your plan for their care and the ultimate goal of regaining the functional ability that has been lost establishes the expected timeline for this phase of care.

There is usually a clear beginning, but all too often, a poor ending. What starts with a bang often ends with a whimper. Patients may miss appointments as they start to feel better and then eventually stop coming in altogether negating any clear ending. Often, this is because patients do not understand the importance of transitioning into maintenance and the value of wellness care.

Sound familiar?

How many times has this happened in your office? It usually has little to do with patients’ satisfaction with your care but reflects a lack of well-defined types of care surrounding case management and patient expectations. At your report of findings, review the way forward:

• Layout the likely course of care and frame the recovery process.
• Explain that the care plan has an identifiable beginning, middle, and end.
• Ask that patients report when they feel that they have reached the goals for this plan so you can celebrate and document the end of their active case.

By eliminating the uncertainty of when to discontinue care, you have an opportunity to discuss the value of self-pay wellness care, the likelihood of relapse and pave the way for a potential reactivation. When you’re unwilling or unable to formally discharge a patient from active symptomatic care, you inadvertently create one of the more common audit triggers – seemingly ongoing active care that does not reflect the various phases of care available in your practice.

Dr. Colleen Auchenbach graduated with a Doctor of Chiropractic from Cleveland University Kansas City in December of 1998 and practiced for over 20 years. Her interest in Medical Compliance began when she earned the 100-hour Insurance Consultant/Peer Review certification from Logan University in 2015. She has been a certified Medical Compliance Specialist-Physician since 2016. In November 2020, Dr. Auchenbach joined the excellent team at KMC University as a Specialist and, as part of this dedicated team, is determined to bring you accurate, current, reliable information. You may reach her by email at info@kmcuniversity or by calling (855) 832-6562.

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