Chronic care management is a coordinated care system that enables physicians and caregivers to deliver high-caliber healthcare services to chronically ill patients out-of-clinic, virtually to best manage their condition and improve medical outcomes. Healthcare practices can bill the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for CCM services under the code CPT 99490 and tap into an extra stream of revenue. Chronic care management software solutions are gaining increased preference among practices as they help providers implement CCM activities effectively and efficiently and enhance data interoperability for improved patient management. Additionally, using a smart software solution, healthcare providers find it very convenient to bill CMS for the services provided with easy access to accurate documentation and information of every CCM activity performed.
A chronic care management software program can save a lot of overall costs in managing chronic illnesses. Through cutting-edge data capturing and analyzing capabilities of a robust software solution, more accurate and data-driven treatment decisions can be made ensuring no undue expense of resources that can lead to an overall increase in total expenditure. Furthermore, when chronically ill patients are engaged through a high-end, interactive CCM software, they show significant signs of improvement and experience little complications, lowering their chances of costly hospital or ER visits. What’s more is that by integrating cloud-based health tracking devices and sensors with a software solution, providers can monitor patient data in real-time and preempt any emergencies and mishaps and intervene immediately to prevent substantial physical and financial losses.
Cost of CCM software
The cost of CCM software solutions varies greatly and depends on multiple aspects including the number of features offered, reporting capabilities, technical support among many other factors. Let’s look in detail at some features that determine the cost of a CCM software program.
-Reporting and data collection
Since CCM is a data-oriented healthcare delivery system, data collection and reporting are of prime importance in this type of care model and help enhance patient outcomes. A good CCM software solution should offer providers the ability to retrieve detailed and accurate reports about –
-Care plans
-Billing activities
-Enrollment details
-Time records
-Device readings.
Advanced reporting support can go a long way in helping a practice improve its CCM program and learn from shortfalls to serve patients better and gain the maximum monetary advantage that CMS offers.
-Care plan creation support
This is also a crucial feature that significantly influences the cost of a CCM software system. Creating care plans for each illness enables providers and physicians to deliver consistent care to every patient regardless of their ailments and ensures zero compromises in treatment. A competent CCM software solution should offer care plans consisting of the following elements-
-Symptom identification and management
-Medication regime management
-Treatment goals
-Intervention plannin
-Schedule for care plan revisions and reviews
-Data presentation and analysis
Care managers and doctors will need to analyze the patient data they receive through RPM devices for providing recommendations and identifying areas of concern. With data visualization and presentation capabilities offered by a software solution, data analysis can become a convenient and enjoyable experience for providers and facilitate quick and accurate decision-making.
-Technical support
Technical support and training are extremely important when buying a new software program and help users employ technological solutions more effectively. A CCM software program that offers onboarding, training and tech support will charge a considerably higher fee than one that doesn’t.
CCM’s impact on hospital admissions
Chronic care management has proven to reduce hospital admissions and readmissions drastically. Care providers and physicians can offer proactive treatment solutions for CCM enrollees by mapping out trends in their healthcare data that imply future chances of aggravations and can lead to hospitalization. Ideally using remote patient monitoring, which is how chronic care management services are delivered, can reduce patient mortality by around 45% and hospital admissions by 20%. Chronic care management can also prevent hospital readmissions as it entails rigorous follow-up of the patients by their physicians, ensuring they are safeguarded from serious risks that would warrant frequent hospital or emergency room visits.
CCM’s impact on coordination of care
Patients who receive coordinated care have their healthcare program costs 75% lower than those who don’t. This statistic clearly indicates that care coordination can save considerable resources and augment patient outcomes. Chronic care management systems enable multiple specialists and providers treating a patient to coordinate and work together to reach a common goal of better healthcare results for the patient. When all specialists collaborate for the patient’s sake, the quality of care inevitably increases and treatment overlaps that result in increased costs can be prevented.
CCM’s impact on patient self-management
Self-management is the key to better patient outcomes and can boost the effectiveness of treatment while decreasing the time till recovery. When patients take control of their health and make active lifestyle changes as advised by their doctors, they can see significant improvements in their overall wellbeing. Sometimes, patients are also culprits of noncompliance with the treatment and medication plans, rendering even the highest quality of medical care ineffective and the healthcare costs incurred in vain. CCM programs are rather helpful in ensuring patients take an interest in their own physical wellbeing and adhere to the treatments recommended by their doctors, leading to better disease management and lower healthcare costs.
Health Wealth Safe is a preeminent CCM solutions provider and offers state-of-the-art software solutions that can help practices maximize their cost efficiency and optimize the various care management activities for effective patient outcomes.
vinay 
barua