Becky Rivera, a Care Coordinator, had a patient who was not using her RPM equipment.
Becky made frequent calls to the patient requesting that she use the equipment, to which the patient responded, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll get to it”. Becky made several of these calls a week, after which the patient would allow her young granddaughter to answer the phone. Becky talked to the patient’s granddaughter frequently, hoping to show the patient her genuine interest in her life. When the granddaughter was not around, Becky would ask about her and make jokes to the patient about how talking to her granddaughter was the highlight of Becky’s week. Soon, the patient was less reluctant to discuss her RPM equipment with Becky and began to use it sproadically.
During a follow-up call, Becky asked the patient why she was not checking in with the RPM equipment as frequently as she’d began asked. The patient stated that initially she felt no one was actually monitoring the information she was sending out until Becky began to call her several times a week. Unfortunately, despite changing her mind about the equipment, the patient informed Becky that she was forgetful and could not always remember her check-in times.
Together, Becky and the patient created a reminder plan for the patient. If the patient did not check her blood pressure by 2pm, Becky would call and inform the patient that she had missed a check-in. In these calls, Becky would also remind the patient of their plan, and that the patient had specifically requested the reminder calls from Becky as she was struggling with the reminders on the tablet. Over time, this strategy proved successful and the number of times Becky was required to call decreased to two or three times a week. Eventually, the patient grew so used to this process that she would see Becky’s phone number and remember to do her check-in, sometimes without even needing to pick up the phone. As this plan continued, Becky only needed to call once a week.
Now, when Becky and her patient have their weekly follow-up call, the patient is very excited to give Becky an update on her granddaughter!
One of my patients was having issues affording his diabetic medications, so he stopped taking them.
Devastated, I contacted his provider’s office to inform them. They called the patient immediately and provided samples while working on a more long-term solution.
I’m glad we were able to give the patient options and so thankful for the practice’s understanding and flexibility!
– Kelly
A patient’s daughter called in last week to share her appreciation for someone calling her mother and looking after her.
It was very heartwarming and made me so proud of the work my team and I can offer people!
– Michelle
One of my Care Coordinators received a memo to check on whether or not a blood pressure machine would be covered by the patient’s insurance plan.
Unfortunately, the BP machine was not covered and was too expensive for the patient to pay for at that time. My Care Coordinator stepped up and offered her extra, brand new BP machine after asking the practice if that would be okay. When my Care Coordinator received the approval, she drove the machine to the patient’s home and hand delivered it to her.
The call I received from the patient’s daughter afterwards really drove home the reason I do what I do!
– Veronica
Yesterday, I called a CCM patient to confirm her upcoming vein ablation appointment.
Turns out that the patient had been experiencing abdominal pains and other symptoms for 5 ongoing days. She expressed that she would like to be seen the same day of her ablation appointmentby an onsite physician regarding the abdominal pain symptoms. I was able to schedule her to be seen as she requested. My fear was, if we did not call the patient, she would have preferred to experience pain in silence.
In these moments I’m so grateful for the patient’s trust to share how she’d been feeling rather than taking no action or going to the ER during a pandemic and allowed me to offer a safer solution.
– Cynthia
A patient was feeling depressed and wanted to call his doctor, but could not get himself to act on it.
When I called, he expressed how he was feeling. Grateful that someone reached out, I relayed the patient’s state to his doctor and we were able to refill his prescription and get him back on track.
Something as small as following up with a patient, although rather unexpectedly, makes a real difference in the patient’s life.
– Marielis
The other day, I was speaking with a diabetic patient, and he told me that he had stopped taking his medication.
He spent most of the time talking about his son and by the end of our conversation he told me he felt motivated again and was willing to take his prescriptions again.
I think that sometimes a simple conversation goes a long way and I’m sure his son would be happy to know that his father decided to keep taking care of himself. These little moments are why I love interacting with patients.
– Susan