Parknc: Enhancing parkinson's care and creating a state-wide referral network

Parkinson's disease (PD), a complex neurodegenerative disorder, requires support from a variety of specialized healthcare professionals and resources. However, few healthcare organizations can accommodate such a wide range of services onsite, referring out patients for additional care. To meet the needs of patients throughout North Carolina, the Movement Disorders Center at UNC Chapel Hill developed a referral network program based on the Chronic Care Model to expand and connect specialized services for PD. Aims of the program included: 1) creating an on-site interdisciplinary PD clinic, 2) working with community stakeholders to enhance PD-specific knowledge of NC healthcare personnel, and 3) connecting patients to their local expert care providers through the ParkNC website. Three hospital departments collaborated to create the Interdisciplinary PD clinic, which has assessed patients from a total of ten NC counties and four states in the two years since development. The UNC team worked with home health agencies and rehabilitation centers throughout NC to recruit allied health professionals for specialized training and inclusion in the ParkNC referral network. This growing network of 73 healthcare professionals serves two primary functions: providing referral services and resources to patients, and offering PD education to professionals. ParkNC.org receives approximately 350 unique visitors monthly, and has logged over 2,500 visits in the six months since the site launched in 2012. ParkNC can serve as a model for other states to develop similar networks to improve the quality of care for the more than 1 million individuals living with PD in the United States.