What best defines care coordination in a healthcare ecosystem?

• A. A system for billing and revenue management.
• B. Deliberate organization of patient care activities across multiple providers to ensure safe, timely, and appropriate care.
• C. A collection of patient health records in one database only.
• D. A policy to limit patient access to specialists.

Answer: (B)

Care coordination means deliberately organizing patient care activities and sharing information among all participants involved in a patient’s care across time to achieve safe, timely, and appropriate care. This captures how a healthcare ecosystem functions, requiring clear communication among clinicians, aligned goals, coordinated planning for transitions between settings, and ongoing monitoring to prevent gaps or duplicated efforts. The other descriptions don’t fit as well: a system focused on billing deals with revenue rather than coordinating care; a single database of records is a storage tool, not the active process of guiding and synchronizing care across providers; and a policy to limit access to specialists runs counter to providing timely, appropriate care.