Epic Care Companion is a specialized patient engagement tool within the Epic Electronic Health Record (EHR) system that proactively manages chronic conditions and health maintenance tasks. By providing patients with a structured, personalized solution, Care Companion helps individuals monitor their own health, stay up to date with essential check-ins (such as glucose and diet assessments), and ensure all health-related tasks and medication adherence are completed properly and efficiently.
This module transforms patients from passive recipients of care (like Patient A) into active participants (like Patient B), significantly reducing the risk of complications and improving adherence to complex treatment plans.
What is Epic Care Companion?
Epic Care Companion is a tool that acts as an extension of the Epic MyChart patient portal. It provides interactive, mobile-enabled solutions that make it easier for patients to monitor their health plans and manage complex health conditions, no matter where they are.
Care Companion leverages individualized patient tasks, personalized patient monitoring, and device integrations to alert providers of improving or declining patient conditions and properly flag patients for help.
Key Capabilities of the Solution
The Care Companion solution provides more structured care for patients in home health settings to not only automate patient care workflows, but also improve the quality of care inside and outside of the hospital walls.
With the Care Companion solution, patients are enabled to…
- Leverage health coaching and education tasks to achieve better health outcomes
- Access reminders and notifications to keep track of schedules and tasks
- Personalize task checklists and educational content to improve patient engagement
- Improve communication and collaboration with their health providers
- Ensure proper care in home-health settings through device integrations and at-home monitoring software
Main Programs in MyChart Care Companion
The MyChart Care Companion solution provides individualized care plans for patients in a wide range of health care areas, including Cardiology, Obstetrics, and Oncology.
Here’s a short list of the main programs offered within Care Companion…
- COVID-19 Care Plans
- Cancer Medication Management and Survivorship
- Pregnancy/Maternity Care Plans
- Orthopedic Care Plan Management
- Urology Care Services (i.e., Overactive, Neurogenic, etc.)
- Overuse of Medication (i.e., Chronic Opioid Use, MOUD, etc.)
- Cardiac Support Resources (i.e., Educational Materials, Self-Care Recommendations)
How to Use Care Companion Functionality
It’s one thing to have access to all of the features, capabilities, and resources in the Care Companion solution, but if your team or patient doesn’t understand how to use each of the tools, the solution will be underutilized. Let’s take a closer look at a few key steps for navigating your Care Companion solution and managing tasks effectively and efficiently.
View Completed Activities
1) Download the Epic MyHealth application on your mobile device, and click on the “MyChart” button at the bottom of the screen to log in with your Epic user credentials.
2) Navigate to the “Menu” icon within the MyChart home screen.
3) Find “To Do” in the list of menu icons to view individual tasks your provider has assigned.
Complete Assigned Tasks
After navigating to your individual “To Do” list in your Epic MyChart app, you’re able to complete any tasks assigned to you and keep up with previously completed tasks to keep track of your care plan and stay up-to-date with your care team. There are several types of tasks in the Care Companion application, including:
Education Tasks
From reading articles to watching educational videos and accessing any other educational content throughout your MyChart application, Care Companion tools allow users to review and complete educational tasks in one place.
Epic users can also leverage the “I Understand” or “I Have Questions” buttons to help care teams better understand users’ comprehension of material and efficiently answer any questions a patient may have while completing their assigned tasks.
Survey Tasks
The Care Companion solution allows users to take surveys and complete questionnaires to assess their knowledge of general health topics related to their individual conditions, care plans, or broader interests.
Responses to survey tasks will be sent directly to a patient’s care team, and care team members can send follow-up questions or resources to patients through the app.
Medication Tasks
When it comes to properly monitoring medication administration or ensuring a patient’s care plan works, Care Companion provides the right tools and resources, including a customized reminder schedule and personalized notifications.
With medication tasks, users can simply check the box when a medication is taken to ensure all medications are taken correctly and on time.
General Tasks
Patients can also track their progress with more generalized tasks, such as walking or a 30-minute workout, to keep up with general health procedures in their daily routines.
If the task has been completed, patients will check the box. If the task has not been completed, patients will see a red “X” in the box for the day.
Manage Notifications
There are several ways notifications and reminders can be managed in the Care Companion application to suit individual needs and preferences. To manage notifications or create new reminder schedules, users will navigate to the “Options” tab within the “To Do” activity and select “Manage To Do Reminders“.
The application also allows users to change the timing of their notifications to best fit their needs throughout the day. They can set tasks to be due at any time, including…
- Morning
- Midday
- Evening
- Bedtime
To change how often you receive notifications, select either “When My Tasks Are Due” to receive notifications for each task due on a given day, or “Only Once Daily” to receive one combined notification for all the tasks due on that day at one time.
How Can We Help?
Whether you need an extra hand personalizing features and tools within the Care Companion solution, integrating Care Companion with other Epic modules, revamping your patient portal for greater functionality, or anything else Epic-related, Surety Systems is here to help.
Our team of senior-level Epic consultants has the technical skills, functional expertise, and real-world experience needed to lead you to success, no matter where your project needs lie or how complex your organizational structure is.
Getting Started with Us
Interested in learning more about where our consultants can fit in your organization? Ready to get started on a project with one of our top-notch Epic consultants? Contact us today to learn more or get connected with one of our Epic experts!
