From Challenges to Solutions: How eCareMD Enhanced Care Coordination for a California Practice

Client Overview

The client is a renowned healthcare practice based in California. It has served a diverse patient population suffering from chronic conditions like asthma, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiac issues. The practice has been delivering chronic care services since 2012 and has earned a significant reputation for its highly dedicated healthcare professionals, willingness to obtain expected patient health outcomes, and comprehensive care delivery.

Business Challenges

Over a timespan of 12+ years, the client has managed various patients and faced various challenges that disrupted their workflow.

Some of the key challenges the client faced are:

1. Lack of coordination between healthcare providers

As the practice handles a large number of patients, healthcare providers need to perform various activities for a single patient. The client’s existing software lacks the functionality of task assignments, which, in many cases, causes the tasks to overlap and be delayed beyond the scheduled time. This affects the patient’s satisfaction, health outcomes, and confidence in the care delivery.

2. Frequent hospital admissions and emergency visits

Due to abnormal health changes, sudden readmissions, and emergency visits, there is extra strain on healthcare providers. It affects the practice workflow as most healthcare providers get occupied with managing these patients, which leads to the ineffective implementation of healthcare activities for existing patients.

3. Lack of patient engagment and treatment adherence

As chronic conditions require a prolonged duration, patients become disengaged from the treatment plan and the healthcare team. This lack of patient engagment and treatment adherence affects their health outcomes and eventually affects the practice's reputation.

4. Patient empowerment challenges

Chronic disease management won't produce the desired outcomes if the patient doesn't follow the treatment recommendations. The client has identified that the unawareness of patients about chronic conditions and lifestyle routines to be followed is a crucial factor that affects their health outcomes.

Solution

The client was looking for software that streamlines their practice workflow and delivers more enhanced preventive care to patients. Hence, the client has approached Medarch Inc. for eCareMD software. Our business analysts took multiple calls to understand the client’s requirements and showed a demonstration of the software. After receiving approval from the client, our team implemented the software.

Solution Highlights

The eCareMD software consists of advanced, cutting-edge technological features that help clients deliver preventive care to patients.

Some of the features that resolved the client’s challenges are:

1. Efficient task management

The client’s major challenge of overlapping and delays in tasks has been significantly resolved by eCareMD’s task management functionality. It enables healthcare providers to assign tasks to their care team members. Also, the healthcare provider can mark it resolved; otherwise, they can reassign it to another care team member. This effective task management has helped healthcare providers to deliver care on time and eliminate delays, leading to improved patient health outcomes.

2. Remote patient monitoring and alert mechanism

The eCareMD software enables healthcare providers to monitor the patient's health vitals remotely. Along with that, if the patient’s health vitals go beyond threshold levels, then the software generates an alert that gets notified to the healthcare provider. These alerts help them to make early interventions and resolve the health complications of patients. It resulted in a reduction in patient hospital readmissions and emergency visits.

3. Secure communication channels & Reminders



Communication channels like secure two-way voice calling, messaging, and real-time chat features have enabled healthcare providers and patients to connect in real time. Also, the software enables healthcare providers to configure reminders in email and SMS and push notifications with frequency, such as daily, hourly, weekly, custom, etc. These reminders and communication channels resulted in increased patient engagment and treatment adherence.

4. Educational materials functionality

Empowering patients is another effective way of obtaining expected patient health outcomes. The eCareMD software enabled healthcare providers to upload educational materials on different chronic conditions and send them to patients via email and SMS. This educational material empowers patients about lifestyle routines to be followed, sleep and exercise routines, as well as results and advantages of following the prescribed treatment recommendations, etc. It resulted in improved patient health outcomes and a reduction in patient admissions.

Value Delivered

1. Improved Patient Health Outcomes

With features like remote patient monitoring, early alert mechanisms, and educational materials, the client achieved significant improvement in patient health outcomes by enabling timely interventions and empowering patients to follow treatment recommendations.

2. 40% Reduction in Hospital Readmissions and Emergency Visits

The implementation of real-time health monitoring and alert notifications drastically reduced sudden hospital readmissions and emergency visits, alleviating strain on healthcare providers and streamlining workflow.

3. Enhanced Workflow Efficiency

Efficient task management eliminated delays and overlapping activities, allowing healthcare providers to complete tasks on time. This resulted in smoother practice operations and improved care delivery.

4. Increased Patient Engagement and Adherence

Secure communication channels and personalized reminders fostered better engagement between healthcare providers and patients, leading to higher treatment adherence and improved satisfaction rates.