Improve Your Well-Being with Chronic Care Management
Is an ongoing illness negatively affecting your quality of life? For the roughly 40% of Americans living with two or more chronic conditions, simple daily activities can be a challenge, as can accessing medical services or medication. Thankfully, a Medicare-covered service from Carlinville Area Hospital & Clinics can help get the care they need and improve their well-being.
What Are Chronic Conditions?
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) broadly defines chronic conditions as those lasting a year or more, requiring ongoing medical attention or limiting day-to-day activities — or both. A leading cause of death in the United States, 6 in 10 Americans have at least one chronic condition; 4 in 10 have two or more. The CDC reports most chronic conditions are caused by a short list of common risk factors, including smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, lack of physical activity, and poor diet. Examples of chronic conditions include:
- Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases
- Arthritis (both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis)
- Asthma
- Atrial fibrillation
- Autism spectrum disorders
- Cancer
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Hypertension
- Substance use disorders
What Is Chronic Care Management?
Chronic care management is a Medicare-covered service that provides ongoing, coordinated care for patients with two or more chronic conditions. In this program, care coordinators from Carlinville Area Hospital & Clinics work with patients, their families, and caregivers to provide education about their conditions and streamline access to certain medical services. The program is designed to enhance the quality of life for patients with chronic conditions by making it easier for patients to get the healthcare they need and create management plans that are wholly personalized to that patient’s conditions. Services available through chronic care management may include:
- Structured recording of patient health information
- Maintaining comprehensive electronic care plans
- Managing care transitions and other care management services
- Coordinating and sharing patient health information promptly both within and outside the practice
Care coordinators do not perform any medical procedures themselves but instead provide more information on how patients can access such services or perform them at home. For example, while a care coordinator will not perform a blood sugar test for a patient with diabetes, they will teach the patient how to test their own blood at home. Additionally, care coordinators will help improve communications between patients and their primary care providers, helping patients find transportation to and from appointments, helping them access free or low-cost medications, and reviewing care plans with them. Care coordinators may even attend medical appointments with the patient, if they consent. To enroll in chronic care management, patients must have two or more chronic conditions, a referral from their primary care provider, and coverage through Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan. Patients may be referred to the program by a primary care provider, a hospital referral, or a self-referral. Regardless, a patient’s consent is always required before enrollment.
Get the care you need to improve your quality of life. To learn more about chronic care management or to learn if you’re eligible, contact your primary care provider at the Rural Health Clinics today.
Posted in Healthy Connections on Jul 28, 2025
