Medical Director Reviews The Place Of E-Health In Chronic Care. Interesting Views On Messaging And Shared Records.

This release appeared a few days ago:

Chronic Care Challenge – How Technology Can Enrich Patient Care

Changing lifestyle conditions over the past 50 years has changed the health dynamics of Australia's population. Today, medical practices are the central hub of the Australian health system, connecting patients, allied-health, hospitals and governments simultaneously. With increased diagnoses of chronic disease within Australia, higher pressures are being placed on General Practitioners to manage these conditions at the point of care.

This whitepaper, compiled from an analysis of more than 145,700 de-identified patient records^[1], along with a survey of 320 clinicians, shows a clear rise in patients presenting with chronic disease and an increase in the care plans associated with these conditions.

It aims to identify the ongoing challenges clinicians’ face when managing chronic disease in General practice and the available innovations that are enabling practices to manage chronic disease patients easier.

SURVEY QUICK FACTS

• GP visits for chronic conditions have risen to 22 per cent in 2014 (up from 19 per cent of all visits in 2010)
• 55 per cent of clinicians say their biggest challenge is engaging patients to manage their condition
• Clinicians say patients struggle with: managing multiple appointments (34 per cent), not understanding their care plan (26 per cent), forgetting or not attending appointments (21 per cent)
• Secure electronic messaging is key – 88 per cent of clinicians say this would be beneficial
• 83 per cent of clinicians are willing to look into, or implement new technology to help them manage chronic disease straight away
• Almost half (42 per cent) of clinicians say online records have the most opportunity to improve outcomes for chronic disease

Here is the link:

http://medicaldirector.com/whitepaper/application+form

Registration will get you the full colourful white paper.

What I found interesting was the interest in secure messaging and the preparedness to use extra technology to improve care co-ordination.

I was interested to see that a little less than half of respondents saw online records as a tool for chronic care management. I would have thought that figure - in theory - would be a little higher.

I note there was not any mention of the PCEHR! Hardly the sort of tool you would choose for care co-ordination of there was something rather more clinician friendly available.

David.