Articles

Patients to help themselves – the Health-Care Industry is pushing for this

20/03/2018

Providers in the USA are using more personalised approaches to ensure patients become more involved in their own care.

As in the UK, there are many problems with the health care system which must be addressed soon if things are to be fixed. A suggestion is that getting patients more involved in their own health may ease the burden on the health care system.

Providers go through medical records to see which patients are missing preventative care, and suggest that they take action. Doctors are adopting strategies to encourage patients to keep track of their medical data and stay on top of chronic conditions.

Studies in the USA have shown that patients who take an interest in their own health care have lower costs and better outcomes. A simple thing like checking the prescription from the pharmacy, and querying it when side effects are unexpected, instead of blindly taking medication, will go a long way to reducing oversights.

The Institute of Medicine states that becoming familiar with one’s own health will enable patients to have more informed conversations with their doctors.

Some doctors are now encouraging the use of online apps where patients can monitor their eating habits and exercise routines. Yet another suggestion is that patients have access to their own medical records online, so that they can be fully engaged in their treatment.

By looking at their own records, people may be more inclined to change their health behaviour. 

One important point that came to light was that older patients should where possible try to bring a family member or trusted friend with them when they visit their doctor. This will ensure that the right questions are asked and answered, and important points are not forgotten as soon as the patient goes away.

Blood Pressure Connect is a system which allows patients to measure their own blood pressure at home. It makes use of a cuff which has a Bluetooth device to capture the data and send it to the provider. It was found that this reduced blood pressure significantly, despite a difference in age groups and medications.

It was also shown that people who were not interested in their health accounted for the highest health-care costs.

One Healthcare Centre in Charlestown provides a fitness tracker for patients aged between 59 and 70 with diabetes. The tracker logs how far the patient walks each week for a six-week period, after which they meet with a councillor to discuss healthy lifestyle changes. It was shown that some patients lost significant amounts of weight this way, with over 50% choosing to keep the tracker for a further six weeks.

While these changes are not yet readily available in the UK, it makes sense for patients to become more involved with their health and medication. Not only will this take pressure of GP’s, but it will instil a sense of responsibility for one’s own decisions about healthy lifestyles. The age-old adage of ‘the more you know’ has never been truer than in one’s own health.