
In the new era of value-based care, ensuring patients receive the right care at the right time from one end of the care continuum to the other is essential for achieving positive health outcomes and preventing hospital readmissions. Care coordination is one method of achieving this goal. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), coordinated care “involves deliberately organizing patient care activities and sharing information among all of the participants concerned with a patient’s care to achieve safer and more effective care.” But how do providers put coordinated care into action? “It’s all theoretical to some extent,” said C. Anthony Jones, CEO and founder of health technology platform Frontive. “You have all these people in different locations interacting with the patient, and that should lead to a better diagnosis and better treatment and better follow-up. That’s the goal. Each provider is making the best decision with the information available. … It’s not complicated in theory. It’s extraordinarily complicated in practice.” The caregiver technology platform CareLinx recently launched Medicare at Home as a means of enhancing care management and care transitions for Medicare Advantage enrollees. In 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be offering approximately 600 more Medicare Advantage plans with expanded coverage for nonmedical homecare services, according to an agency press release. CareLinx meets the care coordination callenge head on. “When we receive the member eligibility file, we connect with a dedicated eligibility adviser at CareLinx. They educate the member on the total dollar amount and their eligibility within the plan,” said CareLinx CEO and founder Sherwin Sheik in a recent interview. “We try to match caregivers and members on multiple levels of compatibility—gender, language, extroverts, introverts.” Sheik said care coordination is bridging the gap between five major stakeholders in the industry: the family, the patient, the caregiver, the technical team and the physician. “Looping all five stakeholders into one platform in the home can reduce episodic care and rehospitalizations and increase patient satisfaction,” said Sheik about the Medicare at Home model. Currently, Medicare Advantage plans will pay for 200 hours of non-medical in-home care, and then the patient will need to transfer to higher-acuity care or find a means of private pay. The goal of Medicare at Home, said Sheik, is to provide a seamless transition into the private pay model.