Commonwealth Fund Publishes Report on Making Health Care Better for the High-Need Patient
These 44 one-on-one listening sessions helped to reveal what clinical and cost data cannot—firsthand insights into how aspects of the health system and a person’s life affect their health care experiences. Common themes included the struggle to find adequate support for nonmedical needs such as nutrition or transportation assistance.
Those who reported they had social support often relied on family members as their caregivers. But even patients with family caregivers experienced significant gaps in their care.
Many patients also said that issues such as their relationship with their provider, a lack of integration between their sources of care, and difficulties paying for care were at least as challenging to manage—and sometimes more so—than their medical conditions...