Vera Patient Road Map: How Care Plans Keep Everyone On Track

At Vera Whole Health, dedicated care teams made of a provider, health coach, and medical staff, partner with patients to develop personalized care plans.

Those care plans act as a road map for providers and patients to help stay on track with a patient’s health goals, treatment strategies, medical tests, and medical records.

Lindsay Leeder, MSN, ARNP Clinical Consultant for Vera says, “I use the patient care plan after each visit. It serves as a written summary of our encounter, including management recommendations.”

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Care plans also act to unify the patient, provider, and health coach in working to achieve the best possible outcome for the patient. Here’s how it works in practice.

Evidence-Based Treatment Improves Outcomes

Effective care plans derive treatment options and care strategies from established medical studies. These studies examine the adverse outcomes of diseases and then develop proactive solutions to help catch problems earlier and deal with them more completely.

For example, to more effectively prevent blindness in diabetes patients, a care plan might call for annual eye exams.

By centering treatment approaches on evidence-based care, providers ensure that patients are receiving care that reflects the most up-to-date medical knowledge and practices.

Care Plans Unite Care Teams and Patients

Care plans aren’t just for providers and health coaches, they’re also for patients who use the road map to gain insight into their long-term treatment strategy.

By including patients in the care plan, it empowers them to take ownership of their own health and contribute to the care plan’s success. Vera provider Phyllis Gilmore notes, “If they know exactly what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, then they’ll understand each step along the way.”

Care plans aren’t just for providers and health coaches, they’re also for patients who use the road map to gain insight into their long-term treatment strategy.

Because care plans also contain documentation of test results, patients can track their progress more effectively.

“Say a patient has been working to lower their cholesterol, and they’ve been changing their diet but the scale hasn’t moved at all, but when we look at their cholesterol, the numbers have changed. That can make a tremendous difference in making them motivated to keep going because they see it’s working,” says Gilmore.

Keeping Everyone on Track

Finally, a patient care plan keeps care teams and patients focused. At the end of an appointment, providers give patients a physical copy of their care plan, complete with provider notes and recommendations.

“Patient visits are typically very full and a lot of information is exchanged,” says Leeder. “I love being able to give patients something tangible that reinforces they were heard and that we collaboratively mapped out a strategy to address each of their concerns.”

Effective care plans are just one of the tools used by Vera dedicated care teams. Want to find out what other tools they use to drive positive health outcomes? Download our FREE white paper: Sick Care Is Doomed to Failure.