WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY
Developing Your Care Coordination Skills
Care Coordination Skills
Care coordination enhances patient care delivery, offering the best patient experience and improving patient outcomes. It guarantees that patients' rights and interests are considered during treatment to improve patient satisfaction.
Having care coordination skills helps you offer high-quality care for patients in various health settings, creating career opportunities and the assurance of stability with numerous growth opportunities.
This page explores the benefits and importance of care coordinating skills to patients and the healthcare industry alongside insights on how you can develop and implement these skills in the workplace.
What Are Care Coordination Skills?
Care coordination skills are the abilities required to oversee efficient healthcare service delivery to patients. These skills involve having knowledge of the patient and the healthcare system and the competency to identify and negotiate the most appropriate care services for the patient.
Care coordination skills encompass combining your medical knowledge about the healthcare system and personal attributes that allow you to provide the best care to patients when needed.
Why Are Care Coordination Skills Important?
Care coordination skills are essential in the healthcare industry because they allow better provision of services to patients. These skills also help every medical team member to be aware of their responsibilities.
Let’s discuss how you’ll benefit from care coordination skills in the healthcare industry:
- Enhanced patient outcomes: Healthcare workers combine their efforts to promptly provide the best possible care to patients. This quality care promotes recovery, reduction of complications, and patient well-being.
- Reduced healthcare costs for patients: By having knowledge of the healthcare system and treatments, you can negotiate better treatments for patients and ensure they don’t spend money on unnecessary procedures or medications.
- Chronic disease management: In the case of chronic diseases, you can manage a patient’s illness through lifestyle changes, regular checkups, and medication.
- Management of complex cases: Complex medical conditions often require care from different specialists. Care coordination skills help caregivers to ensure that appointments and treatments of the specialists are well coordinated to give quality patient care.
- Measuring and improving quality: Your ability to evaluate and determine whether patient outcomes are effective will allow you to identify areas for improvement and adjust aspects of healthcare to improve patient experience.
- Compliance with regulatory requirements: Complying with regulatory requirements are essential for healthcare professionals to maintain their licenses or accreditation. Care coordination skills empower you to ensure and maintain adherence to government and industry guidelines on patient care.
What Are the Benefits of Having Care Coordination Skills?
As you communicate with patients, medical staff, and patients’ family members, you develop excellent communication skills. You also improve your decision-making abilities as you guide patients through medical decisions.
Here are various benefits of having care coordination skills:
- High demand across various healthcare settings: There are numerous job opportunities for care coordinators across the healthcare industry. For example, you can work in a hospital, doctor's office, insurance company, rehabilitation center, or medical facility.
- Diverse career paths: Solid care coordination skills unlock various career paths based on your interests. You can work as a care manager, patient advocate, case manager, or healthcare manager.
- Job stability and career growth: There is a high demand for care coordinators. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of care coordinators will grow by 28% by 2030. A proficiency in care coordinator skills will assure you of a stable career where you can gradually advance into consultancy or policy development.
- Impact on healthcare quality: By providing high-quality care, you’ll be part of a team that works to reduce complications and offer the best patient experience.
- Job security: The healthcare industry aims to provide patient-centered solutions and requires professionals who can coordinate healthcare teams to achieve this goal. This means that care coordination skills will always be in demand, assuring you of job security.
- Advocacy and empowerment: You’ll be able to advocate for your patients and negotiate the best terms for them to ensure the system meets their needs. For instance, you can help patients understand their medical insurance system and see that they’re only billed for the services they receive.
Examples of Care Coordination Skills in the Workplace
Care coordination skills are utilized daily in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and other settings in the healthcare industry. Here are practical examples of how you can use care coordination skills in the workplace:
Develop Comprehensive Care Plans
A care plan outlines the procedures needed for the patient and their execution. Care coordinators create a personalized care plan for each patient while considering factors such as patient history, treatment goals, and needed interventions.
Transitions of Care
Care coordination skills are essential when transferring a patient to home-based care or to another treatment center. Healthcare professionals ensure a smooth transition for the patient and the proper exchange of information with the new caregiver, maintaining the medication and treatment schedule.
Care Conferences
Care conferences involve evaluating patient progress and determining the best cause of action by medical practitioners. These conferences are organized and implemented by care coordinators.
Medication Management
Case managers coordinate patients' medications to be administered correctly and at the right time. The coordinators are also responsible for ensuring they understand the side effects and get refills as needed.
Home Health Services
Healthcare professionals oversee home care services for patients, including nursing care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, or and the delivery of medical equipment.
Navigating Health Insurance
A case manager must help patients navigate the insurance system and understand coverage and authorization for certain procedures.
Social Services Coordination
Care coordination skills involve linking patients with social services such as support groups, counseling, or facilities they may need due to their conditions.
Patient Education
Care coordinators must be familiar with their patient’s’ medical conditions to educate them on treatment options and expected symptoms, including explaining how certain lifestyle changes can improve a patient’s treatment results.
End-of-Life Planning
In cases where a disease condition is too advanced, a care coordinator discusses treatment preference with a patient to offer the most comfortable care possible.
Post-Discharge Follow-Up
Once the patient is discharged, a care coordinator follows up to guarantee the patient continues taking prescribed medication and attending follow-up appointments with doctors or specialists.
How Can I Use Written Care Coordination Skills?
Care coordination skills are essential in various careers across the healthcare industry. You can develop these skills and utilize them in the following fields:
- Staff management: Care coordination skills will empower you to manage the nursing staff. As a nurse manager, you can confirm that the team is well-staffed and has the necessary resources to provide the best patient care.
- Care coordination: You can create and oversee the implementation of treatment plans for patients, especially those with complex medical conditions. For instance, you can work as a case manager where you work with patients throughout their treatment process. You will coordinate appointments with various specialists and verify that patients receive the best care throughout the entire period.
- Patient advocacy: You can collaborate with other healthcare providers to affirm that the patient's needs and interests are considered throughout the treatment period. As a patient advocate, you can engage with insurance providers to ensure patients receive the needed support based on their coverage.
- Elderly care: Care coordination for elderly and geriatric patients includes helping the patients manage their medication schedules and ensuring they understand the side effects of the medications. You can oversee the collaboration of various specialists to confirm the patient is well taken care of and all their medical needs are met.
- Patient satisfaction: You can engage with patients and their loved ones to collect and analyze feedback and identify areas for improvement. As a patient experience manager, you can oversee patient-focused programs in healthcare settings to satisfy their needs.
How Can I Learn Care Coordination Skills?
You can develop care coordination skills through education and training. For instance, enrolling in a degree program focused on care coordination training. You can also enhance your skills by working under a care coordinator and learning their techniques through observation and practice.
WGU’s Leavitt School of Health offers various degree programs such as an M.S. in Nursing– Leadership and Management (RN to MSN) , and an M.S. Nursing– Leadership and Management (RN to MSN) focused on developing and honing your care coordinating skills.
With our nursing degree programs, you’ll learn to:
- Conduct patient-centered, culturally competent and responsive strategies in the delivery of clinical prevention and health promotion interventions and services to individuals, families, communities, aggregates, and clinical populations.
- Coordinate services and resources to meet client needs.
- Eliminate differentials and determine definitive diagnosis.
- Plan services for individuals and populations.
- Refer a patient, as necessary.
- Coordinate care between healthcare providers and a patient
Frequently Asked Questions
Care coordination is the process of overseeing healthcare services and resources to ensure patients receive the highest quality of care possible.
Care coordination is important in healthcare because it enhances patient outcomes, reduces healthcare costs, and improves patient satisfaction.
Effective care coordination requires the following skills:
- Communication: To provide the best care, you must engage effectively with patients, their families, and healthcare staff.
- Time management: You will need to manage multiple patient cases and schedules.
- Empathy: To provide personalized care, you must be empathetic to different patient needs and backgrounds.
- Teamwork: You must collaborate with various specialists and healthcare staff to meet patient needs.
- Attention to detail: You must be meticulous when recording or evaluating patient records to ensure the appropriate course of treatment.
You can develop care coordination skills by pursuing a degree such as an M.S. in Nursing–Leadership and Management (BSN-to-MSN), M.S. in Nursing–Leadership and Management (RN to MSN), or a B.S. in Nursing. You will enhance care coordinating skills by working in healthcare settings and attending care coordinating workshops.
Care coordination improves the healthcare provided to patients and their families by:
- Reducing medical errors and unnecessary procedures
- Providing a smooth transition into home care or treatment center
- Organizing social services such as counseling or support groups for patients
- Ensuring patient and their families are consulted in the decision-making process
