COLLABORATION | with caregivers and patients to create healthier lives
BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE
HEALTH - CENTRAL TEXAS
LOCATIONS
worry and distance from loved ones
during stressful times.
As an integrated healthcare system,
our commitment is to do whatever
it takes to meet patients’ needs.
Delivering a full range of health and
wellness care, we provide services to
help our patients live healthier lives
no matter what stage they are in. The
creation of the McLane Children’s
Hospital in 2011 takes pediatric care
in the region to a new level of specialty
pediatric care, giving many families
easier access to children’s healthcare
expertise, and reasons to hope for a
promising future for children. “While
families have had access to pediatric
services in the region, including at
Scott & White Memorial, our new
children’s hospital raises the bar. It is
consistent with our legacy of providing
the most complete healthcare services
for children alongside our commitment
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THE CATALYST December 14 | sw.org
to adults,” says Dr. Couchman.
In addition, our Level IV neonatal
intensive care unit is capable of caring
for the most critically ill infants and
neonates, and is the only one available
between Dallas and Austin, Texas.
Outside the hospital and outpatient
clinics settings, the Scott & White
Temple Continuing Care Hospital
cares for critically ill, medically
complex patients who are dependent
on ventilators, dialysis, or other
monitoring systems. Patients generally
stay about 25 days as they recover from
cardiopulmonary or neuromuscular
disease, trauma incidents, and other
complicated conditions. Our hospice
and home care programs serve patients
at the later stages of their lives.
Quality is the cornerstone of
everything we do, based on medical best
practices, and integrating the patient
voice, too. Patients with complex health
issues are assigned case managers or
“patient care coordinators” who help
coordinate care, and ensure a patient’s
overall needs are addressed.
“Case managers are invaluable
members of the healthcare team,”
says Dr. Couchman. “We offer
incredibly comprehensive services,
but if patients don’t understand how
to use them, or what they involve,
it can be overwhelming to them.”
A case manager’s role is to facilitate
the patient’s needs, and foster
communication between patients and
caregivers. Case managers also review
patients’ records to see who’s behind
on screenings, for example, and follow
up with them accordingly. It can be
difficult to address all of a patient’s
issues in a 20-minute physician
office visit, so the case manager also
fields patients’ questions, and helps
sort out other issues that may appear
between visits. A person dedicated to
coordinating patients’ care is essential,
especially as the Baylor Scott & White
footprint continues to expand in the
area, and patients have more locations
and more services available to them.
The healthcare system is working
with the Baylor Scott & White
Quality Alliance to further expand
the role of case managers and patient
care coordinators. Partnerships with
the Scott & White Health Plan, and
primary care clinics are integral pieces
of this partnership. We will share with
you more details as this collaboration
evolves further to benefit patients
and families.