CEBP could improve Healthcare even more: Part 2

The previous blog discussed how real time communications was improving the Pharmacy, Physician, Patient transaction process.

Here is the next step in the process improvement that hasn’t been nailed down yet. We need to use improved communication methods to improve patient care relative to medication usage. 

In the US, policymakers are painfully aware of the fact that several unhealthy lifestyle conditions including diabetes and heart disease take up a disproportionate amount of health care spending.

Researchers at the CDC have gotten even more specific with a report that  4 drugs cause almost half of the emergency visits in the US.
According to researchers, nearly 100,000 hospitalizations every year are linked to adverse drug events such as allergic reactions and unintentional overdoses. Nearly half, or 48.1 percent, of those hospitalized were adults 80 years old or older.
“These data suggest that focusing safety initiatives on a few medicines that commonly cause serious, measurable harms can improve care for many older Americans,” said lead study author Dr. Daniel Budnitz, director of the CDC’s medication safety program. “Blood thinners and diabetes medicines often require blood testing and dosing changes, but these are critical medicines for older adults with certain medical conditions.”
“Of the thousands of medications available to older patients, a small group of blood thinners and diabetes medications caused a high proportion of emergency hospitalizations for adverse drug events among elderly Americans,” he added.

Read more: http://www.thestatecolumn.com/health/according-cdc-four-drugs-er-visits/#ixzz1f1y6QKXw

Physicians, patients, and insurance companies have figured out how to improve the transaction process of filling prescriptions. We need to go the next step and use real time communications to improve the monitoring process.

One could imagine tying a regular automated daily phone call check in to any patient  taking certain medications who meets certain criteria. Outbound messaging combined with very simple DTMF gathering of information from the patient would certainly help to lower the number of ER visits.
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