Connecting patients with their community can help transform health care

Using a wider range of resources to connect patients to organizations in their community can help transform health care and improve overall well-being, according to new research published in the Journal of Business Research per faculty at the Florida Atlantic University College of Business.

The article, "Transforming Community Wellbeing Through Patients' Experiences," introduces the concept of "Patient Ecosystem Management" (PEM), which the authors describe as an organizational process. focused on treating patients differently in terms of badessment, management and management. increase resources to achieve patient health and wellness goals.

We think that we need to spend more time, not just in hurry doctors, but also to develop a team approach to identify the specific problems of each patient and connect them to a series. of resources outside of perhaps. the hospital and in their lived world to give them the resources they need to improve. "

Andrew Gallan, Ph.D., lead author of the article and adjunct professor in the marketing department of the FAU

Gallan and his co-authors write that a patient-centered model of care, recognized as a political imperative in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Western Europe, could be expanded beyond the patient and beyond. his families, health care providers, the community and his peers. and technology providers. Health officials should consider employing and involving non-health stakeholders and support services within communities to help develop patient ecosystems in order to mobilize more resources to improve state management.

Gallan uses qualitative and quantitative methods to conduct research, badyzing large databases of patient surveys and commentaries, observing patients and service providers, and making observations to understand the "point of view of truth about patient".

Training health professionals to work in interdisciplinary teams to understand, evaluate and use patient ecosystems could improve patient experience in hospitals, at home and at work, he said.

Researchers offer clinicians and other health professionals a set of practical guidelines focused on a structured framework of strategies and mechanisms used to establish connections within existing ecosystems of individual patients and to extend these ecosystems to provide more relevant care for the patient in a community-enabled environment.

"Health practitioners can rethink traditional approaches used to treat frequent medical conditions," the article says. Examples include the incorporation of video consultations with physicians (or electronic visits) into a standard sequence of clinical appointments for diabetes patients and inviting committed caregivers to share their experiences with other patients and caregivers in the same community, designing multi-patient activities to be involved simultaneously, for example in a midwifery-facilitated midwifery group, and the use of technology and distribution networks for improve access to and compliance with medicines. "

Their framework requires health worker awareness training to badess the patient's experience and a complete knowledge of the community's resources. Patients, caregivers and clinicians need to be involved, while the role of others, such as community health workers, needs to evolve. These workers must have enough knowledge to deal with a variety of people, symptoms and resources.

With each patient presenting a different set of needs and individual situations, health care organizations struggle to develop a protocol that allows them to be effective in their work, but also with customizable components to meet their needs. of each patient. At the same time, they face challenges in improving the health of their community.

"So, how can we make that connection?" Gallan said. "This document is an attempt to help them understand that some investments are needed, we provide examples and templates to organizations to indicate if this direction suits you, it's not like you have to reinvent the wheel. There are organizations that do it successfully, and there are good models for you. "