Measuring the Effectiveness of Cost-of-Care Conversations

Discussion of a CoC with patient during a clinic visitConcept 2: Assignment of a case worker to address financial concernsConcept 3: Documentation of treatment plan modification based on a CoC conversationConcept 4: Patient-reported assessment of a CoC conversation during a clinic visitActivity 1: Use of a patient-facing tool to prepare patients for CoC conversationsActivity 2: Use of a discharge-planning tool to outline costs of prescriptions post-discharge Concepts identified through this work can move the needle toward normalizing these conversations. However, more research is needed to transform them into quality measures that could be used for accountability and improvement purposes. Our findings indicate the following research opportunities for consideration: Accessibility of Data: Many clinicians are doing the best they can to address cost concerns in the absence of OOP cost information. To optimize conversations, clinicians need access to more data to feel comfortable engaging in meaningful and productive CoC conversations. There are opportunities to collaborate with public and private payers to determine the operations and functionality of accessing this data in a timely manner.Roles and Responsibilities: CoC conversations are a newer concept to healthcare; thus, there is no clear role within the care team as to who should lead these conversations—and the right role may depend on the type of cost concern and on who is capable of working to address t...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Policy Physicians Avalere cost of care Josh Seidman Morenike AyoVaughan Nelly Ganesan Rina Bardin RWJF Source Type: blogs