Although nursing education curricula have not typically included the foundational knowledge and skills required for effective care coordination services.
Nurses and case managers are ideally positioned to coordinate care across interprofessional teams. Our care coordination training program uses the Corbin Strauss Chronic Illness Trajectory Framework. That provides structure, tools and resources to efficiently and effectively assess patients, develop a plan of care and identify case closure criteria for individuals with a chronic illness.
Care Coordination and Chronic Illness
In the 2003 report “Priority Areas for National Action Transforming Health Care” the Institute of Medicine identified care coordination as one of 20 national priorities for action to improve quality. (Link) For patients with serious illness care coordination facilitates collaboration among providers and organizations to ensure that healthcare services are well-organized and that patients receive the right care at the right time.
This approach reduces redundancy, streamlines processes, and optimizes resource utilization, ultimately improving the quality of care.