Online and Mobile Tools Help Chronically Ill Manage

[rninformatics, DNP, RN]

From NursingL posted by Bob Pyke Jr.,RN,CPNP

Enjoy!

1. Participatory Health: Online and Mobile Tools Help Chronically Ill Manage Their Care (Bob Pyke Jr.,RN,CPNP)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Of the $2.2 trillion in total U.S. health care spending in 2007, 75% ($1.7 trillion) went to care for patients with chronic conditions. Despite this staggering expenditure, there are pervasive problems with the quality of chronic disease care. Chronic disease is most effectively managed through frequent, near continuous monitoring. Yet many patients spend only a few minutes a year with their clinicians.

According to the National Council on Aging, a third of all chronically ill people say they leave a doctor's office or hospital feeling confused about what they should do to manage their disease, and 57% report that their providers have not asked whether they have anyone to help implement a care plan at home.

New technology tools are emerging to bridge these gaps. This report describes some of the online and mobile platforms and applications that can assist patients in managing their health care -- not only at home, but almost anywhere else outside their clinician's office. Sources include extensive interviews with stakeholders in the field, whose experiences and views are presented throughout the report.

http://www.chcf.org/documents/chronicdisease/ParticipatoryHealthTools.pdf

[Mijourney]

rninformatics, there's good stuff in the article. I'm pro telehealth as well as pro health prevention and promotion. Frankly, I think that consumers with chronic conditions are spinning their wheels visiting a practitioner's office for the most part. I think that more efficient and effective use of home visits coupled with telehealth follow-up are in order. There is so much to be learned by seeing the environment in which telehealth will take place. For instance, when you visit a chronically ill consumer, sometimes you think whoa I didn't know she lived like this. What's this I smell cooking, crackling cornbread and chitterlings? Then you get a clear picture of why home visits and telehealth are needed for CHF. So, yes bring on the woodstock of healthcare because I'm ready:yeah:.