Tracking patients between visits: A new care model

As the health care system transitions to value-based care, new models of care will be a critical part of the new Medicare payment system. Learn how one physician is using a new model of care to track patients in between face-to-face visits in his practice. What patients and submarines have in common Imagine your patients, as you probably do every day, out in the world living their lives. You may wonder if their treatment is working, their medication is causing any side effects, their blood pressure is rising or any number of possibilities that could be percolating unknown—but you can’t find out until they come in for their next visit or call your practice or head to the hospital with an emergency. “Patients are like submarines … out there submerged,” said Lawrence Kosinski, MD, a gastroenterologist and founder and chief medical officer of SonarMD. “We can’t see them; we don’t know how they are [because] they only come in when they’re in trouble. Which means that, number one, they have to recognize that they’re in trouble and, number two, realize that they can’t fix it themselves …. So we need a sonar system to ping them.” Two years ago, Dr. Kosinski created SonarMD, a web-based platform that pings patients once a month with a set of validated questions, which allows his practice to get out ahead of any complications or progressing medical issues before an emergency occurs. And his practice has been using it since June of last year. How it w...
Source: AMA Wire - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: news