title: Care coordination between convenient care clinics and healthcare homes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patient care coordination is foundational to high-quality health care and is a national priority. Since its inception, convenient health care has been criticized for its potential to decrease patient care coordination. The purpose of this study is to investigate care coordination between convenient care clinics and healthcare homes.
  
  
  METHODS
  The care coordination practices of Minute Clinic, which represents over 40% of the convenient care industry, were studied. Patient identification of healthcare homes and consent to transmit visit records were abstracted from the health records of 1,014,249 patients dated July 1 to December 31, 2012. The completeness of record content and timeliness of record transmission were assessed by means of interviewing Minute Clinic's Director of Quality and reviewing patient electronic health records.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Minute Clinic attempts to coordinate care with healthcare homes, but opportunities for improved care coordination exist.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased vigilance on the part of providers, patients, and healthcare systems is needed to mitigate barriers to care coordination. Future research is needed to examine care coordination from multiple convenient care operators and explore how to increase care coordination with healthcare homes.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.
authors.forename: Jeanne Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Carney Moore
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dolansky
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hudak
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kenneley
mesh_terms: D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004282:Documentation / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D009934:Organization and Administration / Q000592:standards*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000639:trends*
keywords: Care management; healthcare collaboration; nurse practitioner communication; patient care outcomes; primary care; quality; retail clinics