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Chronic Condition Management
Traditionally, our health care system is “reactive,”
meaning that when a person becomes ill, they go to the doctor
or the hospital for treatment. With more people living longer,
we are seeing more ongoing conditions that are simply not best
served by this reactive model.
A new system is emerging that is more proactive and preventative
to handle the management and care of chronic diseases. Such
a system is focused on self-management in the home setting rather
than episodic care in a hospital or health care setting. Services
such as patient education, check-in phone calls, medication
dispensers, and in-home monitoring are showing promising results.
This is believed to be not only better for patients, but also
likely to reduce health care costs. Several research studies
have been conducted to determine what kind of care management
systems will reduce preventable hospital admissions and improve
health outcomes. Home monitoring systems traditionally managed
by home health agencies have shown a consistent 40% reduction
in hospitalization rates (Managed Care Magazine, July 2001).
SMS is designed to be managed by the family caregiver, who is
often the person most consistently involved with the care recipient
over time. However, the SMS is compatible with and customizable
to work with a variety of care coordination services allowing
those organizations to communicate to the patients, provide
educational content, manage reminders for medication and activities
of daily living, and receive vital information from the patient.
Contact us for more information about
such customization. |
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