Coordination of care has long been an integral part of nursing practice. Registered Nurses lead the way in designing and delivering successful care. RNs are experienced at delivering a comprehensive approach to achieving continuity of care
Why a Registered Nurse should be utilized versus a layperson or other licensed professional?
Registered nurses’ contributions to care coordination have long been a core professional standard and competency for RNs. It is what nurses do. It is what Nurses have always done. Whether developing care plans guided by patients' needs and preferences, educating patients and their families at discharge, doing their best to facilitate continuity of care for patients across settings and among providers, RNs make coordinated care possible.
The development and implementation of effective systems and processes to cure this current misalignment can benefit tremendously from the experience, professional competencies, and long-standing ethos of registered nursing.
Patient-centered care coordination is a core professional standard and competency for all nursing practice. Registered nurses understand that they are an essential component of the care coordination process to improve patients’ care outcomes, facilitate effective inter-professional collaboration, and decrease costs across patient populations and health care settings. (American Nurses Association)
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act invokes care coordination throughout its provisions to improve quality and control costs to transform the health care delivery system (2010).
For the best results a Registered Nurse with case management, disease management, and life care planning background would be ideal.
According to the National Quality Forum (NQF), care coordination is foundational to quality health services (2010). In fact, care coordination could be the key to accomplishing the “Triple Aim” of Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): (a) improving the individual experience of care, (b) improving the health of populations, and (c) reducing the per capita costs of care for populations. In a recent statement to CMS, ANA advocated for the vital role of nurses in the design and implementation of care coordination systems within institutions and organizations (ANA, 2011). So if the health care and insurance industries recognizes the importance of utilizing an RN shouldn’t the rest of the industries since reimbursement for services will not be as forthcoming. |
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