Join the Duke Population Care Coordinator Program Now and Improve Health in Your Community
Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, are the leading causes of mortality in the world, according to the World Health Organization. These diseases account for 60 percent of all deaths…and by 2020 they’re projected to account for 73 percent of all deaths.
How do we change this alarming rate? That’s where Duke comes in. The Duke University School of Nursing Population Care Coordinator Program (PCCP) prepares nurses for an emerging role in improving care in high-risk patients diagnosed with chronic diseases. The PCCP is in-person training with a unique approach to training. Students are nurses who help create, implement and promote a patient-centered environment that enables patients and their families to receive high-quality, coordinated comprehensive care. They help ensure that the patient populations served by a practice gets and stays healthy through appropriate follow up, preventative and wellness care. Working closely with the physician and care team, these nurses continuously update personalized health plans and help keep patients engaged.
“The complexity of health care today and the pressures to improve patient care while reducing costs are challenging and often stretch providers and practices to their limits,” said Barbara Turner, PhD, RN, FAAN, director of the Population Care Coordinator Program. “Population care coordinators work closely with physicians, primary care teams, patients and families to ensure that populations of patients with chronic diseases experience improved quality of life through appropriate follow-up and preventative and wellness care,” added Turner.
The PCCP is available on site (at your location) or at Duke. Participants are trained in a variety of areas that enhance the patient experience which include population health management, care team leadership, continuous quality improvement, health coaching and education, approaches to behavior change, skill building for patient self-management, monitoring and tracking patient care goals and issues, integrating community resources and clinical registries, evidence-based alerts and reminders.
Turner said: “As a health advocate with the patient and their family, population care coordinators keep the patient engaged in the active management of their chronic illness while increasing the depth and quality of the patient’s relationship with the primary care provider. We believe that improving the dialogue between patient and provider will improve the experience of the patient, enhance the treatment of their medical condition and benefit the provider in anticipating health care needs and delivering high-quality health care.”
Dian Traisci-Marandola, DNP, RN, MPH, BC-NP, completed the PCCP at DUSON and credits the program with providing a common approach for population health within her organization – Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY). “VNSNY is the largest not-for-profit home- and community-based health care organization in the United States, serving a large portion of New York,” she said. “The PCCP at Duke provided me with innovative tools that help manage various populations. It was important information to have – a common language for all registered nurses at VNSNY.”
Duke-trained population care coordinators are adept at using and interpreting health information system data and play an important role within the medical practice by identifying and tracking data trends and issues that enable primary care providers and their teams to react faster and more effectively to the needs of groups of patients. Population care coordinators use predictive modeling, risk profiling and proven performance-based measurement techniques to give their practices a true competitive edge.
The PCCP is ideal for:
- Managed Care Organizations
- Accountable Care Organizations
- Patient-Centered Medical Home Programs
- Coordinated Care Organizations
- Home Health Nursing Organizations
- Community-Based Health Organizations
Participants who complete the program successfully will earn nine graduate credits and 90 contact hours plus a post-graduate certificate or 90 contact hours and a certificate.
Visit nursing.duke.edu/population-care-coordinator-program to learn more and find the right fit for you or your team!