You may be surprised to learn that 60% of adults in America have a chronic health condition. If you’re one of them, you know how frustrating it can be to coordinate care across different health teams. This lack of integrated care often contributes to complications and other issues.
Chronic care management (CCM) offers an effective way to keep you on track with your health and keep your care team members up to date about any issues or changes affecting your condition(s).
When you enroll in the CCM program at Prima Medicine, which has locations in Fairfax and South Riding, Virginia, our providers give you access to easy-to-use tools to stay on top of your wellness. These tools include 24/7 medical care, an ability to call our designated CCM phone line, and a dedicated care coordinator.
If you have one or more chronic health conditions, take a moment to learn more about CCM and how you can get started with this specialized program.
Understanding chronic care management
There are many reasons why chronic care management is superior to traditional care approaches. The following are some of the reasons.
Providers are on the same page
With traditional models of care, a specialist may recommend a new medication without realizing the impact it could have on another chronic health condition. Or, they may dismiss or overemphasize new or differing symptoms when viewing them without key information. This could keep them from getting an accurate picture of your health.
With CCM, our providers have an understanding of your overall health and health history. This helps us better understand how your chronic health issue can interact with other areas of your health and life.
Care is coordinated
Prima Medicine’s CCM program makes coordinating your care easy. When you enroll, you’re assigned a dedicated provider who coordinates with your care team, including your:
- Prima Medicine primary care doctor
- Condition-specific specialists
- Surgeons and surgical teams
- Mental health providers
- Physical therapists and alternative care specialists
- Social workers and other care providers
In other words, your coordinator with Prima Medicine’s CCM program coordinates with your other care providers, so you can rest easy knowing everyone is on the same page. And this can help you enjoy improved health care overall.
Your care isn’t all on your shoulders
With CCM, you never have to remember when it’s time to give your team updates about your health. You receive automatic phone check-ins 1-2 times a month with your CCM provider, so you can report any changes in care or ask about any new symptoms.
Your CCM provider looks beyond your health condition and offers a holistic assessment of your health, asking you questions about your lifestyle, home and work environments, daily habits, routines, diet, stress, and more to ensure we don’t overlook anything that could affect your health.
Your medical expenses can be lower
Our CCM program may be able to reduce your overall health care expenditures. This is because, by getting ongoing care, your providers have a better chance of catching issues early or preventing issues from developing in the first place. This, in turn, may help minimize hospital stays and ER visits.
Plus, most insurers, including Medicare, cover enrollment in the CCM program. So, it’s no wonder that CCM patients report overall satisfaction with the program.
Getting started with chronic care management
If you’re interested in getting started with CCM at Prima Medicine, simply set up an appointment, and one of our providers will evaluate your medical condition and let you know if you’re eligible.
You’ll likely be eligible to enroll in our CCM program if you have one or more chronic health conditions, such as:
- Heart disease
- Hypertension
- Asthma
- Diabetes
- Alzheimer’s
- Dementia
- Arthritis
- Kidney disease
- Cancer
- Osteoporosis
Keep in mind that there’s no “strict list” of conditions that qualify for CCM. Instead, your Prima Medicine provider evaluates your condition and determines if it’s expected to persist for at least 12 months and also places you at risk of declining health.
To learn more about our CCM program and to find out if it could help you, book an appointment online or over the phone with Prima Medicine today.
