Coralina Charles
Sep 5 2023
Reading Time: 3 minutes
As reimbursement becomes more focused on patient outcomes and penalties for hospital readmissions increase, acute and ambulatory providers are now looking beyond long-standing relationships or good reputations when selecting referral providers. Instead, home-based care providers who can prove value to the referring organization’s financial and operational success are more likely to be asked to participate in Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), health system networks or less formal referral networks.
Here are three ways new technologies can help strengthen referral networks:
1. Give sources what they want
Understanding the qualities most important to referral sources is the first step to demonstrating your relevance to their organizational goals. Home-based care providers must be able to easily share data and communicate electronically to establish or maintain a referral relationship in today’s outcomes-focused environment. They expect providers to:
- Communicate electronically in a way that builds on the longitudinal patient record to enable collaboration among providers.
- Demonstrate strategies employed by the provider to keep patients out of the hospital by improving compliance with treatment recommendations.
- Provide business metrics that prove a well-run business with well-trained people.
2. Maintain and improve relationships
Maintenance of the referral relationship requires constant attention, especially as competition increases. The use of technology to monitor performance and identify opportunities to enhance services can enable home-based care providers to proactively share insights with referral sources, allowing for better patient service.
Providers can also differentiate themselves from others in the marketplace by incorporating mobile technology in a meaningful way. When respiratory therapists and delivery technicians can capture information, review previous orders, make notes regarding the patient’s oxygen supply, and even swipe a credit card while in the patient’s home, documentation is completed in a more timely, accurate manner. In addition to documenting a visit, the therapist or delivery technician can identify other services the patient may require.
3. Reap the rewards
Embrace technology to enhance patient care services, data-sharing capabilities, and performance improvement strategies — and to provide clinical and operational benefits for home-based care providers. More importantly, stay current with the changes occurring in healthcare positions as a provider of choice for referral services and a valuable contributor to collaborative healthcare organizations.
With CitusHealth, staff are armed with digital solutions that help speed up the start of care, increase accuracy of documentation, and continue seamless communication throughout the care journey.
Talk to a CitusHealth expert today to learn how we can help you stand out to referral sources.
