The Keystone Beacon Community will seek to establish community-wide care coordination through the expanded availability and use of health information technology (health IT) for both clinicians and patients in a five-county area. The program will proactively identify patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure in the community for specialized case management by a nurse case manager. This case manager will work with the patient and his or her health care team to identify services that will increase the continuity and quality of health care.
This care management program will be strongly supported by health IT. By increasing patient access to their own health information and linking all members of the patient's health care team through health IT, the program aims to:
Increase patient activation and engagement in their own health care
Improve patient satisfaction with their health care
Improve patients' ability to care for themselves, seek preventive care when appropriate, and avoid complications of their conditions
Increase the use of evidence-based standards of care among clinicians
Reduce unnecessary or preventable hospital admissions, readmissions, and emergency department visits
Improve quality of life and health outcomes for patients
Visit healthIT.gov to learn more about how health IT is helping patients, doctors, and stakeholders get the information they need, empowering them to make changes, and improving the nation's health.
