Patient-driven software aids upfront education
Patient care needs met in minutes
With the growing emphasis on preventive care and the trend toward providing upfront patient education at the point of admission or registration or during a physician office visit access managers increasingly find themselves involved in or even coordinating that dissemination and collection of information.
That patients can assist in this process is the concept behind HealthLink, an interactive software that patients can use in a waiting area, helping providers keep up with Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures and other preventive care. The software, produced by Primetime Medical Software of West Columbia, SC, prompts patients through questions that are customized to age, gender, and disease state (such as diabetes). Within a couple of minutes, the computer prints out a summary of the preventive care the patient needs. Primetime customizes the software to include insurance information, so patients know whether their health plan will cover the recommended preventive treatment.
Allen R. Wenner, MD, a family practice physician and one of the developers of the software, tested HealthLink by placing it in the lobby of his clinic, Doctor’s Care Family Medical Center, also in West Columbia. "Within two hours, we ran out of tetanus. We ran out of pneumonia vaccines," he says. "Within a week, the staff were complaining about the additional burden of preventive health, so we hired another nurse."
The number of mammograms doubled, and other preventive tests, such as cholesterol screening, rose even more dramatically. When physicians fail to provide recommended preventive care, it’s often because they are focused on resolving patients’ acute health problems and are pressed by a busy schedule, says John Bachman, MD, a family practice physician and professor of primary care at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
"When you went to doctor because of a sore throat," Bachman adds, "did he ask about mammograms? Tetanus shots? But if you were sitting in the lobby for 20 or 30 minutes [with an interactive computer], in two or three minutes you would have a handout and patient education brochures, and you would go in and tell the doctor, I need a tetanus shot.’"
Bachman uses a more extensive version of the Primetime software called Instant Medical History that incorporates HealthLink and medical history, family history, a review of bodily systems, social history, and psychological tests. For example, the Instant Medical History includes a depression screen and an alcoholism screen.
Bachman envisions a time when patients answer those questions before their visit and send their responses via modem or the Internet. Computerized questionnaires could end some needless waiting and delays in services, he says. "When you come in, the physician knows why you’re in and what tests need to be set up."
[Editor’s note: HealthLink software costs $1,000 per site if the user provides and maintains the hardware and printer. A computer kiosk with the software costs $250/month. For more information about HealthLink, contact Steen Henninger, In-Health Computer Systems, 5076 Winters Chapel Road, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30360. Telephone: (800) 477-7374.]
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