Caregivers and credentials
Care coordinator
A care coordinator is a person who organizes a person's care among doctors, agencies, and family. The job includes sharing information, scheduling services, and checking that the care plan is followed. Care coordinators work in health plans, hospitals, public programs, and home care organizations. Job titles vary.
Why it matters for your family
Care for an older adult can involve a primary doctor, specialists, a pharmacy, a home care provider, and relatives. When no one connects them, details get lost. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality describes care coordination as organizing care activities and sharing information among everyone involved in a person's care. A care coordinator does that work. Many Medicaid programs assign one. A common mistake is to assume the coordinator provides the care. The coordinator arranges and tracks it. Families can ask who the coordinator is and how to reach that person when a need changes.
Source: ahrq.gov
Read more: What is Home Care? How to Benefit from These Services?
Related terms
- Care coordinationCare coordination is the work of organizing a person's care across doctors, caregivers, services and family so the pieces fit together.
- Care planA care plan is a written plan that lists a person's needs, goals, tasks, schedule and who does what.
- Care advisorA care advisor is a person who helps a family understand home care options, share needs and arrange care.
- Discharge planningDischarge planning is the process a hospital, nursing home or other facility uses to prepare a patient to leave.
- Care teamA care team is the group of people who work together to support a person.
- Transitional careTransitional care is support that helps a person move safely from one care setting to another, such as from hospital to home.
