Regular data aid DM effectiveness
Patients self-report via computer
When a member of LifeMasters Supported SelfCare’s disease management program weighs himself, takes his blood pressure, or blood glucose level, he dials a toll-free number, enters his personal code, and follows the computer prompts to enter the data being monitored. It all takes a minute or less.
"It’s important to make data entry uncomplicated and user-friendly. This is set up so they get it done and over with quickly," reports Christobel E. Selecky, chief executive officer for the Irvine, CA, disease management company.
The computerized data management system is at the heart of LifeMasters’ disease management programs for diabetes, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma.
The participants are asked to enter their data on a regular basis. The system checks against a threshold set by the participant’s personal physician. If the data are out of line, the system alerts the health coach, who calls the patient to find out what is happening.
About half the time, the problem is behavioral. For example, the patient ran out of medication or ate the wrong kind of food, such as something with a lot of sodium in it.
"We use that as an opportunity for real-time coaching and talk with them about the necessity of changing their behavior," Selecky says.
If there is no apparent behavioral cause for the fluctuations, the system automatically compiles an exception report and a set of treatment guidelines to the patient’s physician.
The computer includes built-in logic. For instance, if a patient weighs 120 one day and 140 the next, the system asks, "Did you mean this?" If the patient replies "Yes," the nurse is notified immediately.
"Early on, people are more likely to enter data incorrectly. As they get comfortable with the system, they speed through the data entry in less than a minute," Selecky adds.
About 85% of patients use the touch-tone telephone to enter their data. "It’s a simple, low-cost data-entry mechanism," Selecky says.
The company has a web page and gives patients the option to enter their data via computer.
A small number of patients use devices that connect directly to the computer and automatically enter the data. These include scales and blood pressure cuffs.
An adapter on the scale, blood pressure cuff, or glucose monitor plugs into the telephone line. When someone uses the equipment, it automatically dials up the LifeMasters database and enters the information.
LifeMasters prefers telephone or computer entry of data. "We would rather have people think about the data, rather than have it automatically entered," Selecky says.
The company is always trying to test new technology to see if there’s a better way, she adds.
"If a patient has a cognitive or physical impairment which prevents them from using our regular data-entry methods, we give them the automatic monitoring equipment. We’re still evaluating how to integrate this equipment in a cost-effective way and make sure that by using it, we will generate a better outcome for our customers," Selecky says.
The staff at LifeMasters say the data that participants enter via touch-tone telephone are more accurate.
"We get a lot more false-positive reports from the automatic equipment. The grandkids come over and stand on the scale or the cat sits on it," Selecky says.
The equipment is particularly useful for the cognitively impaired or physically impaired people because it gives them a mechanism to get the data to the computer.
When a member of LifeMasters Supported SelfCares disease management program weighs himself, takes his blood pressure, or blood glucose level, he dials a toll-free number, enters his personal code, and follows the computer prompts to enter the data being monitored. It all takes a minute or less.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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