Value of Nursing Care Coordination

The Value of Nursing Care Coordination
A WHITE PAPER OF THE AMERICAN NURSES ASSOCIATION


Patient-centered care coordination is a core professional standard and competency for all nursing practice. Registered nurses understand that they are an essential component of the care coordination process to improve patients’ care outcomes, facilitate effective inter-professional collaboration, and decrease costs across patient populations and health care settings. What is well known to registered nurses, however, has not often been recognized outside of nursing. This white paper was initiated to highlight both the qualitative and quantitative accomplishments of registered nurses in care coordination.

The value of registered nurses in care coordination roles has been demonstrated in numerous health care reform initiatives focused on integrative service delivery. Nurses design, implement, and participate in care coordination projects and practices that seek to improve patient outcomes and decrease costs, frequently demonstrating the effectiveness of nurse-led and patient-centered care coordination.

The focus of this white paper is on recent reports and studies that have documented results involving registered nurses in care coordination. While the results derive from a wide variety of settings and diverse patient populations, the conclusions reached are strikingly similar. Authors observed the following:
 Reductions in emergency department visits
 Noticeable decreases in medication costs
 Reduced inpatient charges
 Reduced overall charges
 Average savings per patient
 Significant increases in survival with fewer readmissions
 Lower total annual Medicare costs for those beneficiaries participating in pilot projects compared to control groups
 Increased patient confidence in self-managing care
 Improved quality of care
 Increased safety of older adults during transition from an acute care setting to the home  Improved clinical outcomes and reduced costs
 Improved patient satisfaction overall