Managing Chronic Health Conditions
08/28/2017 04:34AM ● By Family Features
The benefits of chronic care management
About half of all adults in the United States – 117 million people – have one or more chronic health conditions such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes, heart disease or dementia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while 1 in 4 has two or more chronic health conditions.
When patients have multiple chronic conditions, coordinating health care services among their doctors is key to providing quality care. Between doctor visits, taking the right medications at the right times and following advice from different health care professionals, managing your health can be overwhelming, especially if you’re living with multiple health conditions.
However, if you have Medicare and live with two or more chronic conditions, such as arthritis or high blood pressure, chronic care management services (CCM) can help connect the dots, so you can spend more time doing the things you love.
Ask your doctor about CCM and get the connected care you need, including services such as:
- At least 20 minutes a month of CCM services.
- Personalized assistance from a dedicated health care professional who will work with you to create a care plan.
- Coordination of care between your pharmacy, specialists, testing centers, hospitals and more.
- Phone check-ins between visits to keep you on track.
- Emergency access to a health care professional 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Expert assistance with setting and meeting your health goals.
The Connected Care campaign was introduced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Health Resources and Service Administration to help raise awareness about CCM. The campaign also has free resources available, including an animated video that can help you learn more about the benefits of CCM.
Talk to your doctor to see if CCM is available to you and visit Medicare.gov to learn more about the benefits of the program.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
