Question

1. What is the difference between period of care, contact, and episode of care?

Answer 1

What is the difference between period of care, contact, and episode of care?

The Episode of Care contains information about an association of a Patient with a Healthcare Provider for a period of time under which related healthcare activities may occur. In many cases, this represents a period of time where the Healthcare Provider has some level of responsibility for the care of the patient regarding a specific condition or problem, even if not currently participating in an encounter. It starts with the very first contact with a healthcare provider for a health issue and it ends after the completion of all healthcare activities related to the last contact with that healthcare provider for the same health issue. Many organizations can be involved in an Episode of Care; however each organization will have its own Episode of Care resource instance that tracks its responsibility with the patient. When an Organization completes their involvement with the patient and transfers care to another Organization. This is often in the form of a referral to another Organization (or Organizations). When an incoming referral is received a new Episode of Care may be created for this organization. The initial step in the intake workflow for the referral often involve some form of assessment, eligibility, capacity, care levels, which could take some time. Once the intake process is completed and the patient is accepted, a Care Plan is often created.

Period of Care-The interval during which the managing organization assumes the defined responsibility. A Period specifies a range of time; the context of use will specify whether the entire range applies (e.g. "the patient was an inpatient of the hospital for this time range") or one value from the range applies (e.g. "give to the patient between these two times") it has start and end date/time.

A contact is a set of healthcare services provided by care professionals during an encounter with the patient and are considered relevant for the patient’s healthcare status

n episode of care starts with the very first contact with a healthcare provider for a health issue and it ends after the completion of all healthcare activities related to the last contact with that healthcare provider for the same health issue