Communications, Collaboration and Compliance

In Ron Winslow’s WSJ story this morning, cardiologist Vincent Bufalino points out that “Only 5% to 10% of a person’s healthcare life happens in the hospital.”  No one wants to live in a hosptial, but, human nature being what it is, many people’s daily lifestyle choices and irregular follow-through with their medicines are hurting their health and straining their budgets.  “Get with the Guidelines,” a program run by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, is collecting data from doctors on their outpatient results so standards of care can be set and shared based on patient outcomes.  Best practices tracked so far are strong on communications. Do doctors remember to ask if their patient has diabetes or if  he/she has quit smoking?  The program is already positively influencing treatment. 94% of heart patients in participating hospitals were discharged with a prescription for a beta blocker, compared with an average of 78% before the program started.

It seems to me that there is a win-win opportunity here for pharmaceutical and  biotech companies to collaborate with physician and patient advocacy organizations to develop smart phone apps that will help patients, and those of us who want to avoid becoming patients, make better daily choices in an integrated way.  Sending patients reminders to take their medicines is good, but wouldn’t a more comprehensive app that includes excercise, food choices, even healthy cooking tips, be better?  And, what if these more comprehensive apps were targeted for different patient demographics, i.e.; teens, parents, men, women, seniors?  And, what if the apps were fun?  What if they were games or contests, or simply let patients track and score points?

Do you know of apps, or similar programs, that are already out there and being used?  Do you have other thoughts on ways the industry can collaborate and create to improve compliance and overall health care outcomes?

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2 Responses to “Communications, Collaboration and Compliance”

  1. Amy Murphy Says:
    November 11th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

    Ron’s article was great, and I hope it increases interest in the practice-based approach. The American College of Cardiology’s program is actually an entire network of cardiology practices, powered by the PINNACLE Registry. The PINNACLE Registry (based in over 180 practices) is part of the ACC’s National Cardiovascular Data Registry, the nation’s largest. However, the NETWORK is much more. Through the network the ACC provides practice management tools, coding advice and tools, and the evidence-based registry. Please see http://www.pinnaclenetwork.org for more information.

  2. Betsy Says:
    November 12th, 2009 at 6:18 am

    Any, Thanks for your comment. After checking the link, I must say that PINNACLE has the potential, in and of itself, to demonstrate the concrete benefits of practicing evidence-based medicine for all parties: through improved reimbursement policies, lower overall public healthcare costs and, most importantly, continuous improvement in overall patient outcomes. It was good to see that the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership supported the project.

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