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Improving the care of patients with long term and complex conditions
The context
Healthcare systems were designed to treat patients with acute conditions, but increasingly the work is with patients with long term conditions. Such conditions increase with age, and health care systems must be redesigned both to improve care for patients and keep health care affordable.
Our capabilities
Our parent company, UnitedHealth Group has pioneered programmes that transform healthcare to improve care for patients with long term and complex conditions. The programmes work for both those frail patients with multiple conditions and those with only a single condition. In the UK we have worked with the Department of Health and over 40 primary care trusts to improve the care of patients with long term conditions, including patients with cancer. The programmes have been shown to deliver improved health and satisfaction for patient and carers, at reduced cost because of reductions in unplanned hospital admissions.
Our services
UH UK develop bespoke programmes designed to deliver sustainable improvement for patients with long term conditions. These may include initial assessment of the health economy’s readiness to change; project planning; care pathway and workforce redesign; training and mentoring of staff, and the provision of information tools. UnitedHealth UK can also provide fully integrated health improvement programmes.
16 Planks of successful long-term condition programmes.
Long-term condition management may sound straightforward, but from our experience, successful implementation is much more difficult, and requires 16 essential “planks” to be in place before a health economy can successfully “cross the bridge.”
- Committed leadersip
- A clear vision of what the programme is for, how it will work and what it must achieve (better care, reduced hospital admissions, both,etc)
- A clear model of care
- A strong project plan with actions, accountabilities and timelines
- Strong project management
- Adequate resources
- Well trained, mentored and supported case managers with information systems to support their work
- Comprehensive, accurate and up to the minute data on patients in the programme and what is happening to them and how staff in the programme are working
- An accurate and constantly updated means of identifying the level of risk that patients have of adverse events, including unplanned hospital admissions
- Good working relationships with community health professionals, which may include reengineering the workforce
- Integration of case management programmes for those at the highest level of risk with disease management programmes and self help programmes for those at lower levels of risk
- Strong support from GPs and hospital consultants with mentoring of nurses
- Strong links with, and support from, Social Services
- Presence of intermediate services, including rapid response teams, step-up beds, etc
- Programme availability 24/7, perhaps though links with out of hours services
- Constant review of the programme, including multidisciplinary review of all patients admitted to hospital and constant adjustment
To find out more please call is on 0207 202 0800 or email us at Contact_uhe@uhc.com