12 Reasons PDGs are game changers

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By: Christie McWilliams, RN, Implementation Consultant, CitusHealth

At CitusHealth, we’re known for giving home-based care providers the tools to engage patients and caregivers on a deeper level through seamless communication and connected care—all in one platform. An important feature in this digital solution is the patient discussion group (PDG), an ideal way to capture and curate patient information in one place.

A PDG is a customizable chat thread for a single patient. Strictly for staff and external partners, PDGs are not accessible to patients or their caregivers. It keeps conversations about care in one location to give all those involved in providing that care an up-to-date view of care progress and needs.

Here are 12 reasons PDGs are game changers for home-based care providers and those they serve.

Automatically create PDGs.
When a patient record is entered—either by integration or manually—a patient discussion group (PDG) is automatically created and populated with important data like the patient’s name and date of birth, so you know exactly what that thread refers to without needing to open it.

Get care progress at a glance.
With the ability to customize subject lines—and change them as the care journey evolves—users can quickly see which patient the message thread refers to. You can also have multiple threads under one patient, with a subject line for each thread, making it easy to see all conversations without opening them.

Flag messages for importance.
Individual threads or entire chats can be flagged for importance, allowing users to sort by priority and see any messages that need immediate attention.

Control user access.
At any time, the PDG creator can see which users have access to the chat, and can add or remove anyone after the chat is created. When users are added, they have access to the history of that chat as well as future conversations—allowing them to get updated on what’s happening, no matter where the patient is in the care journey.

PDG TIP:
You can determine which roles automatically go into PDGs. But when larger organizations have multiple users within a certain role, people will need to be removed who are not applicable to the chat. You can avoid this by adding a PDG role, making the thread default as empty and ready to start a conversation.

Evolve with the care journey.
To ensure chats evolve with the care journey, add and remove people as care changes and edit the subject line to reflect phases of care such as intake, benefits verified, schedule nursing, etc.

Add entire message groups.
Instead of adding individuals one at a time, you can create message groups that help to ensure you have the right people for every chat—without having to do much work on the front end of setting up the PDG. These groups can revolve around phases of care such as referral, intake, and more.

Simplify conversations with separate threads.
With multiple-thread PDGs, you can have multiple chat threads under a single patient. This means any groups (DMEs, referrals, etc.) can have their own threads under the same PDG—which keep messages from getting cluttered with users “talking over each other.”

Attach files.
Users can easily attach files to each PDG to help keep everyone in the chat visually updated on the patient and care progress.

Make the workflow your own.
Whether your organization likes to use PDGs to document patient information during visits, to summarize care, or for communication only, we can customize it to capture any patient-specific information in the way that best suits your users.

Update salespeople easily.
When salespeople are included in the PDG, it keeps them updated with where their referral is in the process without having to play phone tag. They can also see any urgent needs such as drug approvals or CBCs so they can obtain that information from the referral source quickly and efficiently.

Integrate with a click.
Integrate any text-related information directly into the EHR by tagging chats and threads. Keep in mind that any attachments in PDGs are for informational purposes only, and do not integrate with the EHR. To get attachments into the patient record, it needs to be downloaded and uploaded into the EHR manually.

Give a voice to every element of care.
With PDGs, all elements of care can chime in. Intake can inform when their role is complete, shipping can notify when deliveries arrive, nurses then know that the patient can be admitted for care, and so on.

While some customers end the PDG once the patient is on service, others continue using it to share information back and forth between nursing staff and pharmacy staff, to process refills, note change in insurance, and more. Simply put, PDGs are an ideal place to capture information about the patient—all in one strictly staff-facing message thread.

What can PDGs do for your organization? Schedule a CitusHealth demo today to experience the difference seamless communication can make.