While others wind down for December, you have a critical opportunity to dramatically improve your quality metrics before the December 31st deadline. Here’s how to maximize these final weeks using Remote Care as a Service™.
The Reality: Your clinic is managing a perfect storm of holiday schedules, staff vacations, and patients rushing to complete end-of-year appointments. Yet HEDIS measurements wait for no one. The solution? A strategic remote care approach that extends your reach beyond clinic walls.
Remote Care as a Service™ revolutionizes your quality metrics strategy by acknowledging a fundamental truth: most patient care happens outside your clinic. This comprehensive framework integrates monitoring technology, sophisticated software, and clinical services to help you close critical care gaps – even during the busy holiday season
Here are 3 simple tactical steps you can do to affect positive change with remote care as a service ™
Tip #1: Focus on Self-Reported Services during telehealth encounters
In these final weeks of the year, patient self-reporting during telehealth visits offers a powerful opportunity to close care gaps efficiently. This often-overlooked strategy can help you capture crucial quality measures while maintaining clinical validity.
Transform your existing appointment schedule into a quality measure goldmine. When patients are already scheduled for other services, take advantage of these touchpoints to collect self-reported data. Many visits traditionally conducted in person can transition seamlessly to telehealth, expanding your capacity to meet year-end goals.
The scope of acceptable self-reported data is broader than many realize. Parents can provide their child’s height and weight measurements, enabling BMI percentile calculations without an office visit. More significantly, patients using Remote Care as a Service™ digital blood pressure cuffs can self-report their readings for CBP measures. If a reading exceeds 140/90, you can immediately have the patient take a second measurement, potentially capturing a qualifying reading in real-time.
Don’t forget the crucial final step: document these encounters properly. Submit the appropriate CPT II codes to ensure your quality measures reflect these valid self-reported readings. This documentation is essential for maximizing your year-end quality scores.
Tip #2: Prioritize Measures With Fillable Gaps
Time is of the essence, but not all quality measures offer equal opportunity for year-end improvement. The key lies in targeting measures that can be meaningfully impacted with a single visit. Here’s your strategic roadmap for maximizing impact in these final weeks.
Focus your immediate attention on these high-impact, single-visit measures that can significantly boost your quality scores. Cervical Cancer Screenings (CCS) and Well Child Visits (WCV) represent crucial preventive care opportunities that can be completed in one targeted appointment. Comprehensive Diabetes Care (CDC), Blood Pressure Control (CBP), and Weight Assessment and Counseling (WCC) similarly offer substantial returns on your time investment.
Pay particular attention to A1C and blood pressure readings – these measures are uniquely valuable because they’re evaluated based on the final reading of the year. This means that even if a patient showed elevated levels earlier, a favorable year-end reading can positively impact your metrics. Prioritize retesting for patients whose last A1C exceeded 8.0 or whose blood pressure readings were above 140/90.
Remember to leverage telehealth strategically during this busy period. Many of these measures can be effectively addressed through virtual visits, particularly when piggybacking onto already scheduled appointments. This approach maximizes efficiency while ensuring quality care delivery. For instance, blood pressure readings can be captured using home monitoring devices, while nutrition counseling and weight assessments can be conducted virtually.
Tip #3: Make sure you the team is planning for year end appropriately
Time is running short, but your year-end quality metrics can’t wait. The solution? A targeted approach to staffing and scheduling that ensures every opportunity for gap closure is captured before December 31st.
Start by auditing your team’s holiday schedules now. Map out provider availability through year-end, identifying any potential coverage gaps that could impact patient care. Work backwards from December 31st to create a realistic timeline for completing crucial visits. This proactive scheduling ensures your providers can address essential patient needs before departing for their well-deserved holiday breaks.
But what happens if your internal capacity can’t meet the demand? This is where Remote Care as a Service™ becomes your strategic advantage. These partners can seamlessly extend your team’s capabilities, providing qualified clinical staff to handle overflow and ensure continuity of care. Their virtual care teams can step in to maintain momentum on gap closure initiatives even as your core staff takes time off.
While your competitors are slowing down, seize this opportunity to significantly improve your quality metrics. Remote Care as a Service™ provides the framework, technology, and support to help you finish 2024 strong.
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To learn more about SynsorMed’s leading-edge Remote Care As A Service Platform and our deep experience in member outreach that will help your plan finish 2024 on a high note.
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