Written by: Jennifer Urbonas
UnitedHealthcare has introduced a new program called UnitedHealthcare Care Coordination to help independent primary care providers (PCP) with patient support.
The UnitedHealthcare Care Coordination program serves as an extension to independent primary care practices by coordinating care resources. For example, the program can monitor a patient’s prescriptions, assist with referrals to specialists, and coordinate care for patients who have complex medical conditions or who have been in the hospital. UnitedHealthcare Care Coordination is available to those patients who are UnitedHealthcare commercial members.
Here’s how it works.
A care team consisting of a clinical care coordinator and a clinical pharmacist will work in collaboration with the PCP to help with:
Referral Management: A dedicated care coordinator will assist patients in need of a specialist visit with the scheduling of in-network, high-quality providers. The coordinator will track the referral to completion and work with the specialist to ensure that office visits or procedure notes are delivered to the PCP in a timely manner.
Medication Management: After the PCP provides a list of patients who may benefit from an individualized comprehensive medication review, a dedicated clinical pharmacist will contact them to review their medications. The pharmacist will look for patient safety issues like drug-to-drug interactions, cost savings opportunities like brand-to-generic conversion or lower-cost alternatives, patient education needs, and medication alignment opportunities. The pharmacist can also provide pharmacy consultations as needed.
Transitions of Care Support: UnitedHealthcare Care Coordination receives notifications on member hospitalizations. Using this data, the care coordinator will contact patients who have been discharged from the hospital to perform medication reconciliation and to assist with scheduling PCP and specialist follow-ups.
High-Risk Member Management: The care team will monitor the PCP’s high-risk patients to ensure they not only are having an annual comprehensive medication review but that they are also being seen on a regular cadence by their PCP.
By offering tangible patient support for practices that don’t have the staff to assist them in some of these areas, the care team can help strengthen the relationships between patients and providers, ultimately improving care quality.
If you are interested in participating in the UnitedHealthcare Care Coordination program, you can contact Jennifer Urbonas, Market Director of UnitedHealthcare Care Coordination by calling 303-993-1716 or emailing Jennifer.urbonas@uhc.com.
*The Arizona Pulse and its provider, The Arizona Medical Association (ArMA), do not endorse the use of this program or any other program or product.*
