Clinical complexity - where to find it and how to use it

Clinical complexity of a patient describes the complexity of issues faced by an individual in accordance with the biopsychosocial approach, the main focus of which is the assessment whether the patient experiences difficulties in the biological, psychological and social aspects of life and healthcare system. An effective, comprehensive assessment of apatient during the treatment process is crucial for efficient operation of Public Health Service. Thus, providing patients with an individual, holistic and comprehensive healthcare. Patients, who are not always able to seek help on their own, require assurance of complex help, effective diagnostics at the early stages of a disease and assistance with treatment coordination and continuation. Clinical complexity concerns patients of many fields of medicine but especially emergency medicine, internal medicine, geriatrics, psychiatry, and primary care. Lack of access to complex healthcare with biopsychosocial approach causes a great deal of patient dissatisfaction and reduces the quality of available therapeutic options. There are couple of tools that can be used in screening for clinical complexity, for instance: INTERMED platform, INTERMED Self-Assessment, INTERMED for the Elderly, INTERMED for the Elderly Self-Assessment, and the Probability of Repeated Admission. There are also effective intervention schemes which can be used to manage a complex patient care, such as: Case Management, Information Sharing or Self-Management. Screening tools and interventions combined together can be effective in providing patients with a well-organized, high quality healthcare with a patient-centered biopsychosocial approach.