Get More from Your Medicare Benefits: Manage Your Chronic Conditions
WRITTEN BY: JENNIFER KISTLER
As we age, many of us are likely to have been diagnosed with chronic conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, or arthritis. 42% of Americans have been diagnosed with two or more chronic conditions, and 12% have at least five chronic conditions. Managing these conditions can be overwhelming, with responsibilities such as medication adherence, frequent visits with Primary Care Providers, coordination with Specialty providers, and daily vitals monitoring. Your Health understands the stress and burden of navigating these chronic conditions. The Chronic Care Management (CCM) program is designed to provide relief from these challenges, offering additional support and resources to help you manage your conditions.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) recognized that patients with chronic conditions need additional time, support, and resources from their Primary Care Providers, thus creating CMS's Chronic Care Management (CCM) program. Patients with Medicare (or Medicare Advantage/Replacement) living with two or more chronic conditions are eligible for the additional services covered by CMS's chronic care management (CCM) program.
The Chronic Care Management (CCM) program reimburses Primary Care Providers for the additional time the providers and their clinical support team invest in each CCM patient for services such as connecting with community services, tracking referrals, providing educational information, and coordination with Specialty providers, and other health services. Medicare encourages frequent touches with patients between visits, ultimately decreasing ER trips, avoidable hospitalization, and lower patient healthcare costs.
One of the most significant aspects of the CCM program is its patient-centered approach. The comprehensive care plan is not a one-size-fits-all solution but a collaboration between you and your provider. You establish health management goals specific to your conditions based on your unique physical, mental, cognitive, psychosocial, functional, and environmental factors. This approach allows you to be more involved in your care decisions which in turn increases your likelihood to stick with the care plan, leading to higher satisfaction and improved outcomes.
As a chronic care management patient with Your Health, our patients have access to additional members on their care team, such as Visiting Nurses, Community Health Workers, Social Workers, and Health Coaches, allowing for the ultimate customization based on the patient's needs. These positions work hand-in-hand with the provider and patient to provide frequent touches, increased accessibility to care, and community-based resources, resulting in positive patient outcomes and fewer hospitalizations.
If you or someone you love has two or more chronic conditions and Medicare/Medicare Advantage/Replacement is your primary health insurance, you can receive more support managing your chronic conditions. Depending on your secondary or supplemental insurance, you may have a minimal copayment or deductible. Someone at Your Health would happily answer any questions and initiate the chronic care management program.