Let’s take a moment to imagine a scenario with two patients…
Patient A has Type-2 Diabetes, but he is negligent when it comes to taking his medication on-time and often forgets to monitor his glucose periodically throughout the day. Because of his negligence, Patient A suffers the consequences of low blood-sugar and has put himself at greater risk of diabetic complications.
Patient B also has Type-2 Diabetes, but she uses Epic Care Companion to stay up-to-date with her medications, monitor her diet and glucose levels, and assess her eye and foot health with regular check-ins.
Read on to learn how the Care Companion solution in Epic can help patients (like Patient B) keep better track of their own health and ensure all health-related tasks are completed properly and efficiently.
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 flagging patients for help.
Key Capabilities of the Solution
The Care Companion solution provide 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 of the key steps in 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 on 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 a few different types of tasks within 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 gain a better understanding of the comprehension of material by users 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 answer questionnaires to assess their knowledge of general health topics associated with their individual conditions, care plans, or generalized interests.
Responses to survey tasks will be sent directly to a patient’s care team, and members of the care team can send follow-up questions or resources directly to patients through the app.
Medication Tasks
When it comes to monitoring medication administration properly or ensuring a patient’s care plan works by offering a customized reminder schedule and personalized notifications, Care Companion provides all the right tools and resources.
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 a few different ways notifications and reminders can be managed according to individual needs and preferences within the Care Companion application. 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 individual 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
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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!
