How CCM can help with Chronic Illness and Depression
The current population statistics reveal that 60% of all Americans together with 85% of older adults live with at least one chronic medical condition. Dealing with significant patient populations that present multidimensional health needs proves to be complex. The Chronic Care Management (CCM) programs serve as helpful tools for such purposes.
The following sections analyze the vital link between chronic conditions and depression and demonstrate CCM as an effective method for comprehensive patient care.
What is Chronic Depression?
A mental health disorder called depression makes patients experience lasting sadness along with a failure to find pleasure in their usual activities. The condition of depression becomes chronic when it maintains its presence throughout multiple years in a patient. These are the main symptoms that occur in patients with chronic depression:
- Irritability and anger
- Abnormal sleep patterns, such as insomnia or excessive sleep
- Feelings of hopelessness or sadness
- Weight changes together with appetite modifications lead to either substantial weight reduction or substantial weight increase.
- The patient experiences challenges in thinking processes along with impaired concentration abilities and decision-making difficulties.
- Fatigue or lack of energy
- The mind constantly returns to thoughts about death
Exploring the Link Between Chronic Pain and Depression
Multiple studies have proven that pain which continues over time creates a strong connection with depression symptoms. The prevalence of depression stands at five percent whereas between thirty to forty-five percent of chronic pain patients develop depression. The two conditions of chronic pain and depression show comorbidity because they tend to occur together and intensify each other’s impact through continuous negative feedback. Depression functions as both a cause and effect of chronic pain in most patients.
The condition of chronic pain involves persistent pain that continues without interruption or appears intermittently thus causing people to reduce their exercise and limit their participation in regular activities. The pain can manifest through back or joint discomfort and it occurs in fibromyalgia cases and headaches and nerve pain. Long-term pain leads to mood and mental health conditions that include anxiety together with insomnia and intense fatigue.
Patients develop chronic pain because of injuries and autoimmune disorders and obesity and aging and several other medical reasons such as depression. The experience of chronic pain creates barriers for patients to practice healthy methods for dealing with stress and anxiety which are known depression risk factors. Chronic pain sets the conditions for depression to develop because of its perfect combination of elements.
Patients who suffer from chronic pain and depression receive major disadvantages because of the fragmented nature of health care delivery. Current treatment methods neglect to recognize how frequently the symptoms and causal factors of chronic pain and depression interact with each other.
Coordinated care management helps patients reach better medical outcomes through risk reduction of acute events and delivers tools that facilitate effective self-care practices.
Ways to Manage Chronic Depression with CCM
By implementing Chronic Care Management approaches you will obtain improved abilities to treat serious mental health conditions such as chronic depression. Each specified requirement in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) supports patient-centered preventive care. The specific requirements show substantial worth for people who suffer from depression.
1. Access to Community Resources
Through CCM patients obtain access to appropriate community services that address their needs associated with SDOH including housing, social connection, and transportation which help address depression’s root causes.
2. Proper Medication Management
The treatment of chronic depression includes medication for most patients. The use of particular medications creates elevated danger for depression among patients. Through CCM patients with chronic depression can both follow their medications properly and avoid harmful drug combinations leading to optimal results from their prescribed treatments.
3. Monthly Checkups
For patients under CCM, the care managers must dedicate at least 20 minutes of remote care each month. The scheduled communications create essential social connections that minimize mental health stigma at the same time.
4. Educating the Patients
Research-based knowledge about their illness gives patients the power to take an active role in treating their chronic depression.
5. Personalized Care Plans
Healthcare managers develop customized care plans for patients that might contain nutritional advice alongside exercise recommendations. Healthcare providers oversee the creation of personalized plans which ensure every goal has documented evidence-based reasoning.
6. Referral Management
The CCM provider reaches out to provider teams for possible patient referrals by providing required documentation and scheduling timely follow-up appointments. Multiple healthcare specialties working under coordinated care protocols achieve optimal results when treating chronic depression through their combined expertise. The care manager facilitates healthcare professional record exchange during patient consultations where providers decide that a referral is necessary.
7. Support for Self Management
Self-management by patients stands as the fundamental core of CCM program operations. Through CCM care management services health professionals verify that their patients with chronic diseases receive proper sleep, follow nutritious diets and keep scheduled medical appointments. Patient health becomes more manageable through support group access and transportation coordination services provided by CCM programs.
Patients need two or more chronic conditions along with a prognosis of lasting at least twelve months which increases their risk of serious health deterioration for them to qualify for Medicare’s Chronic Care Management program. Only certain chronic conditions qualify. Among the qualifying medical conditions are depressive disorders which include chronic depression. Depression functions as an eligible medical condition that could make a patient suitable for enrollment in a CCM program.
Gen By Gen Health’s turn-key CCM/RPM solutions ensure compliance and health literacy – improving patient satisfaction and outcomes, increasing revenue, and decreasing staff workload.
To get in touch call us right now at (713)715-7997 to learn more about our CCM services or you can also book a 30 min free consultation.
You may also like
How CCM is Overcoming Challenges and Maximizing Patient Benefits
The drive for value-based care has motivated medical practices to develop new preventive programs that deliver benefits to their patients. Among these programs is Chronic Care Management which serves as one of the initiatives. Traditional Medicare patients under...
Obesity Management with RPM and Chronic Care Strategies
The healthcare department recognizes obesity as a chronic disease that continues to be a major global health concern. The recent survey data indicates an alarming rate of obesity which affects more than 42% of US adults. The current trends indicate that obesity will...
Best Practices and Strategies for Enhancing Patient Safety in RPM
Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) revolutionizes the delivery of healthcare services, especially outpatient services, by enabling the monitoring of a patient’s status, including vital signs and health status. This approach enables healthcare providers to track a...