The end goal of care coordination is to enhance quality of care––safety, timeliness, effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and patient-centeredness (IOM, 2001). This is most often understood through the following measurable outcomes
- reducing emergency room visits
- avoiding hospital admissions (disease-specific & overall)
- decreasing mortality (disease-specific & overall)
- improving short-term clinical outcomes (e.g. glycated hemoglobin levels for patients with diabetes)
- increasing functional status (e.g. for patients with congestive heart failure)
- enhancing quality of life
- promoting other patient outcomes (e.g. less missed school days due to illness)
- improving treatment adherence
- promoting service adherence (e.g. remaining in contact with mental health services)
According to McDonald et al. (2014), the mechanisms for achieving care coordination fall into two categories.
References
Institute of Medicine. Committee on Quality of Health Care in America. (2001). Crossing the quality chasm : a new health system for the 21st century. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
McDonald, K. M., Schultz, E. M., Albin, L., Pineda, N., Lonhart, J., Sundaram, V., . . . Davies, S. (2014). Care Coordination Atlas Version 4 (Prepared by Stanford University under subcontract to American Institutes for Research on Contract No. HHSA290-2010-00005I). (AHRQ Publication No.14-0037-EF). Rockville, MD.
