Healthcare IT News has just published a piece on the 5 ways in which IT can manage chronic diseases. The top three are:

1. Patient monitoring tools/medical devices.

2. Mobile applications

3. Clinical decision support systems

These should come as no surprise. Patient monitoring of glucose levels and weight through medical devices in the home enables a patient to manage quantitatively what these values are and to communicate effectively without vagueness as to the levels measured. Furthermore, management through objective, quantitative approaches remove the ambiguity with which patients report to their primary care physicians and reduces the possibility of “hedging” or underestimating (overestimating) what these values might be. Getting into the habit of recording (automatically or manually) the measured values also is an activity and behavior that patients can get into and can look forward to as part of their daily activities. Measurement of the values also provides a measure of “connectedness” from the perspective of communicating to their care providers.

Mobile applications logically accompany the above medical device measurements but also provide a way to record behavior related to diabetes, asthma, weight, diet, etc. Their ease of use on mobile devices such as iPhones also make them close at hand (no pun intended). Ease of use and making part of the daily activities (phone use, internet accessibility) is a key to adherence.

Clinical decision support systems can provide remote alerts and notifications both to the patient and to the provider through vehicles such as email and can provide needed information at various stages of the care management process, whether ailments are chronic or not. While the primary focus of decision support systems has been assisting the care provider in diagnoses and treatment, they can also serve to provide reminders to patients to perform functions that otherwise might be overlooked: glucose measurement, weight measurement, medication administration, for example. Simple alerts to remind a patient that it is time for a measurement or time for a medication can be invaluable to compliance.

For related discussions on clinical decision support, medical devices integration, mobile applications, or chronic disease management, see these links.

Article of note from HealthcareITNews on 5 ways telemedicine can boost care in rural communities sites #2 as “Telemedical devices for remote monitoring of in-home care improve clinical observations.” Suggestion is to put hospital quality patient care devices in the home. Data transmitted to monitoring centers can be used to monitor and evaluate patient status. This area could benefit not just from medical device connectivity but also clinical decision support tools at these monitoring centers.

TimeWarner Cable Company Provides Telehealth Infrastructure in Maine

HealthITNews is reporting on TimeWarner Cable and their support for HealthInfoNet (Health Information Exchange, or HIE) and their VPN-based secure connection to enable communication of patient information across the HIE backbone.

Quote from Telehealth Art.:

“There is increasing acknowledgement that telehealth will play a significant role in medicine as healthcare costs and access to care continue to be growing concerns,” said Robert Moel, group vice president of healthcare solutions for Time Warner Cable. “Our Healthcare Solutions delivered over Time Warner Cable’s private, secure connection makes it easier, faster, safer and cheaper for doctors to consult with each other, communicate with and monitor their patients and deliver a better overall patient experience.”

Telehealth will be key facilitator for chronic disease management

I’ve written in the past on the benefits of telemedicine, and the future is coming rapidly. While technology is extremely important in achieving this, it is only part of the problem: reimbursement for encounters is still somewhat vague and general acceptance across the nation is still a way off.

Telemedicine facilitating patient care… KevinMD…