• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Center for Health Progress

  • Contact Us
  • Get Help
  • The People
    • Our Board
    • Our Staff
    • Our Members
    • Our Donors
  • The Issues
    • Coverage & Access
    • Health Equity
    • – EquityLab
    • – Graphic Novel
    • Immigrant Health
    • Payment Reform
    • Social Determinants of Health
    • – Video
  • The Work
    • Policy Advocacy
    • – Bill Tracker
    • Community Partnerships
    • Community Organizing
    • Professional Services
  • The Impact
    • How Change Happens
    • Evaluating Success
  • Learn More
    • Blog
    • Our Publications
    • Our Events
    • – Annual Meeting
    • – HEALTHtalks
    • Our Values
    • – Health Equity Commitment
    • Our History
    • Our New Name
  • Donate
You are here: Home / Learn More / Blog / The Cost of Complexity

The Cost of Complexity

Author: centerforhealth
March 24, 2016 Filed Under: Access to Care, Payment Reform & Costs, Systems Change

caringhands

My dad was recently diagnosed with cancer. Overnight, he found himself faced with tough care decisions, small insurance crises, and the overwhelming bureaucracy of cancer. He was also about to become tasked with managing a daily care routine far outside the scope of his usual morning ritual.

Since his diagnosis, he has returned to the hospital twice with pneumonia. While many cancer patients become prone to bacterial infections due to a weakened immune system, it is often compounded by an inability to keep up with the battery of medicines and new responsibilities of having a serious illness.

Patients living with complex illnesses require extra help, from medication adherence to finding stable housing; however, the majority of chronic care takes place in a primary care setting, preventing clinicians from fully addressing the spectrum of health needs that come with managing a chronic illness. In order for a physician to provide high-quality chronic care to a typical patient panel, they would need to spend 10.6 hours per day on just chronic care, or 27% more than the amount of time available for all patient care.

Partly as a response to patient needs, the growing trend in the US moves away from this traditional model to a team-based approach. This allows multiple health care providers and other members of the care team—doctors, nurses, community health workers, mental health specialists, social workers, and others—to provide wraparound services for a more comprehensive patient care. The team works together to best address patients’ needs, communicate to each other on their findings, reduce trips to the emergency room, and ensure no one falls through the cracks.

Providing care for high-cost, high-need patients is expensive and challenging, but focusing on this population also has potential to make the biggest impact on national spending. Five percent of the U.S. population accounts for 50 percent of the nation’s health care costs. Fee-for-service has been a longstanding way to pay for health care, but new care management approaches may not always fit well with this payment model. The complexities of a chronic illness require a system that delivers coordinated health care, addressing an entire array of patients’ needs and risks, and rewarding improved health outcomes.

According to the Chronic Care Collaborative, one in four Coloradans are living with a chronic condition, such as cancer, lupus, Alzheimer’s, or any number of others, which makes this an important issue for our state. Finding the best way to deliver and pay for health care can have a huge impact on the health of this population. It could be your neighbor, your sister, my dad, or you.

Improving health care services for our most vulnerable is important. It’s both the right thing to do and a big step toward a more high-quality, financially-sustainable health care system for us all. As for my dad, we will continue to work to make sure he has the best care and support he can get, whether it’s from a large system of crazy relatives or a more comprehensive, coordinated health care system.

Related posts:

hospitalNot-So-Super Utilization rainbowMinimizing Illness, Maximizing Life underinsuredThe Cost of Underinsurance rainThe Crippling Cost of Care

Blog Authors

Joe SammenJoe Sammen

Executive Director

Aubrey HillAubrey Hill

Director of Health Systems Change

Sarah McAfeeSarah McAfee

Director of Communications

Jessica NguyenJessica Nguyen

Community Partnerships Specialist

Dana KennedyDana Kennedy

Director of Community Partnerships

Maggie GómezMaggie Gómez

Director of Community Organizing

Chris KleneChris Klene

Project Coordinator

Chris LyttleChris Lyttle

Senior Policy Manager

Michelle MuñozMichelle Muñoz

Office Manager

Erika SerranoErika Serrano

Community Organizer

Recent Posts

  • Make Mental Health A Priority
  • Drilling for Environmental Justice
  • Systems Thinking Our Way to Better Public Policy
  • Human-Centered Design Puts Users First
  • Social Determinants of Healthy Teeth

Categories

  • Access to Care
  • Communications
  • Community Engagement
  • Community Partnerships
  • Coverage
  • Events
  • Health Equity
  • Healthy Living
  • Immigrant Health
  • Innovations
  • Leadership
  • Payment Reform & Costs
  • Policy & Advocacy
  • Providers & Workforce
  • Social Determinants of Health
  • Systems Change
  • Uncategorized

Blog Archives

Contact Us

Physical Address:
1245 E Colfax #202
Denver, Colorado 80218

Telephone:
720.583.1760

 

Mailing Address:
PO Box 18877
Denver, Colorado 80218

Email:
weare@centerforhealthprogress.org

GET CONNECTED

 

Join Our Listserv →

© 2019 · Center for Health Progress | Terms of Use

Developed By Firefly Partners