Collaborating for Better Care: Insights from the Portland Conference

At the recent Care Collaboration Conference (CCC) in Portland, Oregon, healthcare leaders assembled to discuss the evolving landscape of care delivery and management. From both payer and provider perspectives, we engaged in conversations with our customers about the distinct challenges facing senior care facilities (SNFs), hospitals, and health plans, as well as strategies for overcoming them in 2024 and beyond.

What are Care Collaboration Conferences?

Across the U.S., Our CCCs provide a vital platform for acute and post-acute care providers to share their experiences and discuss meaningful solutions. These events open with a focus on improving care transitions, standardizing data, and strengthening collaboration.

Insights for SNFs and Senior Care Facilities

At the Portland CCC, the aging population‘s impact on SNFs was a key discussion point. This surge in demand increases labor shortages, complicating staff recruitment and retention, while regulatory pressures have further strained operations. Additionally, insufficient visibility into patient care hinders collaboration and leads to missed opportunities for optimal care.

Despite these challenges, opportunities for innovation and improvement abound. The transition to value-based care models, in particular, offers the promise of incentivizing better outcomes. A highlight for many at the conference, including myself, was seeing PointClickCare’s real-time product demos. The centralized, single source of truth for providers across care settings and the predictive return to hospital scoring were particularly helpful for visualizing patient care pathways that are more proactive and coordinated. We also discussed how embracing risk-bearing programs and optimizing coding and billing practices can enhance revenue streams.

Insights for Hospitals and Health Plans

Hospitals and health plans similarly face challenges, including margin compression and the complexities of transitioning to value-based care (VBC). The Portland CCC highlighted the proliferation of value-based contracts, with some organizations managing over 100 different contracts, underscoring the need for streamlined solutions to facilitate administration and care coordination. Additionally, readmissions, extended lengths of stay, and network leakage present significant financial risks, exacerbated by higher costs and penalties.

During the conference, real-time data from the Oregon market was shared, providing impactful and relevant insights into discharge and readmission rates. The use of an ROI calculator in real time demonstrated shared savings opportunities with VBC. Additionally, we had productive conversations around our PAC Network Management solution, which facilitates collaboration between acute and post-acute care providers, addressing issues like readmissions and length of stay management. Leveraging data connectivity and clinical insights can guide clinicians in delivering timely and appropriate care across settings.

The pace of value-based care adoption varies across regions, but Oregon’s healthcare stakeholders expressed a clear desire to collaborate in reducing unnecessary expenses and improving outcomes. Recognizing the importance of collaboration and information sharing among stakeholders is an exciting development we expect to continue in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Keeping the Momentum Going

The Care Collaboration Conference in Portland underscored the importance of bringing together key stakeholders to discuss real-world challenges and solutions. As we look toward the future, we know that partnerships between payer and provider organizations will continue to play a pivotal role in advancing the quality of care and improving patient outcomes. We are optimistic about the strides we will continue to make toward a more inclusive healthcare system.

Join a Care Collaboration Conference hosted by PointClickCare near you and be part of the conversation about how we can solve some of healthcare’s biggest challenges together. Check out our calendar of upcoming events here and click on the one nearest you to register and learn more.

Thank you to all who joined us at the CCC. Let’s continue to work together to advance care for all!