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What Are The Examples of Integrated Healthcare Systems? Updated Guide 2023

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    Posted in Healthcare Integration

    Last Updated | July 25, 2023

    Executive Summary – Examples Of Integrated Healthcare Systems?

    Integrated Healthcare System promises a rapid, more comprehensive, and cost-efficient approach to delivering care and treatment to patients, but what is an Integrated Healthcare System? What are the examples of integrated healthcare systems? This article is a guide to explaining the Integrated Healthcare System and throws some light on examples of the Integrated Healthcare System.

    Introduction – Examples of Integrated Healthcare Systems

    Integrated healthcare is a cooperative approach to ensure patient care. It combines the physical, mental, and financial elements of the healthcare system. The purpose of such integrated healthcare is to provide holistic treatment and prevent several chronic conditions.

    Integrated health systems are also called inter professional health care. These systems share health-related data among all team members. The data includes information related to patient care (Patient Health Information) and the layout of a comprehensive treatment plan that will be followed to deal with the biological, psychological, and social demands of the patient according to the patient himself. 

    Integrated healthcare systems include health specialists from several fields. These include doctors, nurses, behavioral psychologists, therapists, and even health insurance navigators. There are many examples of Integrated healthcare systems which will be discussed shortly. 

    Benefits of Integrated Healthcare Systems for the Patients

    Benefits of Integrated Healthcare Systems for patients

    Healthcare Integration Solutions have proved to be quite beneficial for patients and providers likewise. One of the major benefits of integrated healthcare systems for patients is that they get access to all the healthcare services without having to worry much. For example, a patient who is looking for mental health services or counseling may need to make an appointment, then get checked but with Integrated Healthcare Systems, patients can quickly see a mental health counselor who works within the organization primarily providing mental healthcare services. This implies that it’s easier for patients to get access to the healthcare services they need. 

    Another benefit of the Integrated Healthcare System for patients is the exceptionally lower healthcare costs. When doctors and medical professionals work and cooperate, healthcare costs become significantly lower. Fewer appointments and improved information sharing are a few other benefits of such systems for the patients. Not only this but it can also help healthcare professionals reach a diagnosis fast and get rid of redundant medical tests and exams, which further reduces the costs to the patients. 

    Healthcare Integration

    Benefits of Integrated Healthcare Systems for the Providers

    • Appropriate care for employees

    An integrated healthcare system ensures that the workers and the employees get proper treatment no matter how many providers are involved. The number of employees or the providers doesn’t matter. 

    • Preventive care leads to long-term advantages 

    An integrated healthcare system prioritizes preventative care. This results in healthier consequences for patients and long-term cost savings for employers or providers. 

    • Attract and retain employees

    Health benefits are a top aspect for candidates. An integrated healthcare system can help an employer stand out from their competitor, as it accentuates the importance of employee health to the organization.

    How does an Integrated Healthcare System Work?

    Healthcare data integration companies and solutions all around the world are committed to providing ingenious solutions to allow for premium patient care delivery. Such systems facilitate easy communication and rapid alliance among most healthcare providers from different parts of the world. 

    These healthcare systems are easy to install for healthcare professionals and can be used anywhere. With this modern technology right at your fingertips, you can set up appointments with your doctor or other healthcare providers with just a few clicks on the screen. This helps you make decisions based on what you want rather than what the providers want. 

    Users have a complete hold on the entire process, they can adjust their plans depending on how many people need follow-up care, how many people need to be monitored closely, or if someone has moved out of the town, etc., without the need to make any changes to their initial plan. 

    Examples of Integrated Healthcare Systems

    Examples of Integrated Healthcare Systems

    Following are the examples of Integrated Healthcare Systems:

    • The Veterans Administration (VA) is a Federal Agency that provides healthcare for Veterans. It is an example of an integrated healthcare system. It provides many services such as hospital care, long-term care, and other medical services to Veterans in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. 
    • Medicare is also a Federal Program that pays for most of the costs of hospitals and physicians for people who are above 65 years of age or people with certain disabilities, people who have end-stage diseases, heart failure, etc. 

    Other than these Integrated Healthcare systems examples, the Chronic Care Model (CCM) is an example of a well-known Integrated Healthcare Model. It is a model with key aspects of a healthcare system. This model encourages high-quality chronic disease care and focuses on 

    • the community and its health system
    • self-management support system
    • decision-making support 
    • clinical information systems.

    Healthcare Integration

    Pros and Cons of Integrated Healthcare System for the Stakeholders

    The main stakeholders in integrated healthcare systems are Patients, Providers (professionals and institutions), Payers, and Policymakers. Understanding the pros and cons of integrated healthcare is essential for each stakeholder to make informed decisions and optimize the benefits of such systems.

    Pros

    Integrated healthcare systems have revolutionized the healthcare system and have been beneficial for several reasons. 

    The most obvious advantage of such a system is cost: 

    integrated health care systems can be very cost effective and less expensive than traditional medical care. The reason behind its cost efficacy is the collaboration between patients, doctors, and nurses. 

    The other significant advantage is convenience:

    Hospitals and other healthcare units have to allow patients access to the tests and processes normally carried out and that too, legally (and they often do). But in addition to that, they also need to be able to deal with any additional requests along with the treatment… This means that if you have an emergency, you can get in quickly without using up all your aids right away.

    Cons

    Overall, healthcare integration can give you significant benefits in terms of efficiency, but it can also have some disadvantages. This may happen very commonly if you are not fully familiar with how this system operates or how it differs from other ways of working together. Therefore, complete knowledge of integrated Healthcare systems is important for anyone in this field, and a lack of knowledge may decrease the productivity of such systems. 

    What lies ahead for the Integrated Healthcare systems – Will they take over the industry or will there be continued growth in other models?

    Integrated healthcare systems have made the interaction between the doctor and the patient so easy that it is safe to say, integrated healthcare systems might take over the industry. integrated healthcare seems to bridge the gap between the patient and the doctor. The above-mentioned models and examples of Integrated Healthcare Systems prove that primary healthcare is evolving and is no more limited to face-to-face interaction rather it includes a much wider range of services, including telehealth visits, asynchronous messaging, and even live chat between the patient and the provider. Those face-to-face interactive sessions no longer seem necessary, or even possible, when the healthcare providers and the patient are not in the same place. 

    Therefore, it is safe to say that the Integrated healthcare systems are well acclimated to flourish during the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the healthcare system. Since the integrated healthcare system has adopted flexibility and turmoil, integrated healthcare models will succeed—or may even dominate in a future that demands flexibility.

    5 Challenges Faced by Integrated Healthcare Systems and How to Overcome Them

    5 Challenges Faced by Integrated Healthcare Systems

    Why use Healthcare Integration Services?

    Healthcare data integration companies ensure the provision of premium patient care delivery. Many such models and examples of Integrated Healthcare Systems prove to be providing such premium services to patients all around. Healthcare Integration Solutions provide several services to foster seamless communication and instant collaboration among most healthcare providers in different parts of the world. Integrated healthcare data leads to the safe sharing of patient health information (PHI). With this help, a more accurate diagnosis and a detailed and comprehensive treatment plan can be formulated. The above-mentioned examples of integrated health services help one to understand the importance of such systems in this community. 

    The following services and solutions can help a lot in ensuring the Integration of Healthcare Data. 

    FAQs – Examples of Integrated Healthcare Systems

    What are the challenges of Integrated Healthcare Systems?

    A few challenges of  Integrated Healthcare Systems are:

    • Lack of Standardization, Integration Standards, and personal resources
    • Fragmented Systems
    • Security threats 

    What is the purpose of an Integrated Healthcare System?

    Integrated healthcare systems ensure enhanced access to services, no excessive or not-so-important hospitalizations, and readmissions, promising abidance to treatment, improved patient satisfaction, health literacy, and self-care. In addition to it, such systems aim for greater job satisfaction for health workers, and overall improved health outcomes. Among very well-known examples of an Integrated Healthcare System is the CCM (Chronic Care Model) which encourages high-quality chronic disease care and focuses on providing premium care to patients with such chronic diseases. 

    What are the types of healthcare systems?

    Four types of healthcare systems are used in the Western world. 

    • Beveridge model
    • Bismarck model
    • the national health insurance model 
    • out-of-pocket model.

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