Care3 News & Events
Better Care, More Reimbursable Interactions with VCS for FQHCs & RHCs
Virtual Communication Services (VCS) can help Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) improve the quality of care by increasing the frequency and effectiveness of virtual interactions with patients. And now thanks to the 2019 CMS Physician Fee Schedule, VCS is a reimbursable service.
Effective January 1 of this year, FQHCs and RHCs can receive payment for Virtual Communication when at least 5 minutes of communication technology-based or remote evaluation services are furnished by an FQHC practitioner to a patient who has had an FQHC billable visit within the previous year, and both of the following requirements are met:
The medical discussion or remote evaluation is for a condition not related to an FQHC service provided within the previous 7 days, and
The medical discussion or remote evaluation does not lead to an FQHC visit within the next 24 hours or at the soonest available appointment.
Research from the Institute for Healthcare Communication has concluded that high-quality communication between care team members and patients has a positive influence on patient health outcomes. VCS is an opportunity to help patients help you, but the key to driving value (and reimbursements) is using the virtual solution that is most convenient for patients.
Patient portals and secure email are useful in sharing certain types of health information, but for most patients they are not a convenient means of quickly communicating with their doctors. Most consumers (patients and family caregivers) prefer text messaging on mobile devices. In addition, these older solutions do not identify communications eligible for VCS reimbursement.
The VCS solution you choose should help patients be as prepared as possible at every interaction with you and their care team. Imagine if your VCS technology could be used by a patient to send media (e.g., images, videos), text, and important data such as symptom severity and vitals logs before a visit. Your VCS solution should enable contact between visits and alert you when an important incident occurs so you can respond.
Care3 is an award winning collaboration platform for Community Health Centers that enables your FQHC or RHC to provide Virtual Communication Services and Chronic Care Management (CCM). Care3 has been proven to increase the number of relevant interactions between patients and the care team over time. Email us at vcs@care3.co or simply click the “Request A Demo” button to see how Care3 can help you deliver more, and higher quality care virtually.
Care3 Transforming Interaction Between Consumers and Healthcare Professionals
(Los Angeles, CA) – January 31, 2019 – Care3, www.care3.co), the leading care collaboration platform for healthcare delivered in the home and community, is transforming conventional interactions between care professionals, patients, and families for PACE and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Conventional patient/doctor interactions are periodic verbal exchanges in an office setting with information transfer limited by patient memory of events since the previous visit. Care3 uses the three (3) main elements of communication – text, media, and data – to create digital “Connected Journals” between consumers and providers to capture the ongoing patient experience. Patients share their experiences not only through text messaging, but also by tracking care task completion, medication adherence, and symptom severity. If an adverse event occurs, it can be reported in real-time for providers to intervene, if necessary.
“Connected Journals allow consumers and care professionals to ‘talk’ about care without an office visit, phone call, or appointment.” explains David S. Williams, CEO and Co-Founder of Care3. “This new interactive format also generates previously uncaptured data critical for improved care planning and real-time clinical response to adverse events.”
Connected Journals have led to significant impact in number of interactions, clinical data points generated, and care plan adherence. In three separate case studies with dozens of participants, Connected Journals enabled:
the capture of more than 360 additional clinically relevant data points per patient per quarter
increased care plan adherence by 68% during the three-month period
450+ quarterly interactions per patient
an average of two intra-quarter adjustments in care plans (rather than only two per year)
To learn how Connected Journals from Karen can help your Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), Rural Health Clinic (RHC), PACE program, or other community-based care organization reduce costs of care and improve engagement through virtual communication services, contact us for a demo at demo@care3.co.
About Care3
Care3 is the world’s first care collaboration platform for healthcare delivered in the home and community. The HIPAA compliant Karen platform helps community-based health organizations focus on consumer experience and operate more effectively by driving visibility and accountability for care delivered outside of health facilities. This unprecedented insight enables care teams to intervene to prevent costly outcomes such as emergency visits and hospitalizations. Learn more at www.care3.co/care-organizations.