From the June 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Soon, nurses should be involved in developing a comprehensive care plan for each patient using computer-based tools. More importantly, they must be equipped and trusted to analyze real-time data to detect when something abnormal is happening to the patient. In some instances, nurses could use this system to instruct prescription adjustments— say, when a congestive heart failure patient’s weight exceeds the daily limit.
3. Managing chronic diseases
Chronic disease management is where a high-tech, high-touch approach stands to make the greatest difference. Nurses with chronic disease experience and technological savvy are in high demand. Even health insurance companies are announcing new high-paying positions for nurses who can handle members’ care management using a suite of technology platforms.
Nurses in these positions must:
• learn to effectively identify high-risk patients using advanced analytics platforms
• apply their knowledge of chronic diseases to configure the system, and design a personalized chronic disease management pathway for each high-risk patient
• use smart technologies to alert patients about acute risks (e.g., detecting blood flow in the patient’s legs and informing them of a possible deep vein thrombosis)
• and interpret the data coming from wearable medical technology to educate and coordinate care for patients with chronic diseases. The access to a continuous flow of patient information (high tech) should enable nurses to spend meaningful one-on-one time understanding their patients and building a relationship with them (high-touch).
About the author: Bipin Thomas is a renowned global thought-leader on consumer-centric health care transformation. Thomas is the editorial board member of DOTmed and chairman of ICURO, a consumer-centric digital care outcomes research and management organization, where he is redefining personalized care delivery by connecting all stakeholders in the emerging health care ecosystem. Thomas is a former senior executive at Accenture and UST Global, where he launched strategic digital initiatives across the care continuum including providers, payers, medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical and life sciences, federal and state health agenciesb.
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