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March 27, 2019

How is Technology Improving Chronic Illness Management and Care



It’s a sad fact that across the U.S., roughly half of adults presently live with at least one or more chronic health conditions. So much so that spending on healthcare tops 80 percent for effective treatment of these chronic conditions which includes arthritis, type 2 diabetes, obesity, stroke, heart disease, and cancer.



Affecting over 120 million American men and women, chronic ongoing health conditions put a significant strain on the healthcare system as well as clinics and other facilities that deal with outpatient care. According to statistics from the respected CDC, over two-thirds of deaths are caused by chronic diseases and treating them consumes three-quarters of the U.S. healthcare spending.

Anything that can be done using technology to make improvements to treatment protocols or reduce the severity of outcomes is most welcome. In this article, we cover some of the technological improvements that are helping to make chronic disease a little less problematic.

Heart Failure Monitoring Through Medical Procedures

Heart failure is a leading cause of death. From the widow maker – a reference to an artery that can get blocked preventing the heart from receiving blood and pumping it out again – to other causes of heart failure; this is a critical area.  

One of the latest innovations that’s exciting for people with “dodgy tickers” is the implantation of a sensor to track the heart and the successful movement of blood into and out of it. The sensor is able to transmit sufficient data to provide meaningful insight into the effectiveness of prescribed medication and the use of other treatment protocols like cardiac resynchronization therapy.

The use of monitoring remotely from the hospital has been effective in cutting down the need for the patient to attend hospital or to call an ambulance. This is encouraging for doctors looking to make medicine more proactive rather than reactive.

Chronic Disease Management Apps

The introduction of chronic disease management (CDM) apps has been slow to reach high levels of adoption. There’re several good reasons for this including that many sufferers of chronic conditions tend to be older and are less comfortable using digital devices or apps, even when it helps with their care. However, in time, that’s changing.

One example is the CDM app from Twine Health. Their app lets the physician create a new treatment program for a patient that has been newly diagnosed with one or more chronic diseases. From within the app, the doctor can set up the correct medication and frequency of dosage, dietary requirements or recommendations, suggestions for exercising, and the ability to monitor for relevant issues. The monitoring is possible for things like blood sugar levels with diabetic patients or hypertensive ones being able to take blood pressure readings, with readings fed through to the physician.

These types of CDM apps have proven extremely effective in better managing chronic diseases through both increased information sources and reminders, plus good recommendations and follow-up. The need for repeated or frequent physician appointments has also been shown to fall significantly too.

Emergency Alert System for People In-need

For sufferers of a chronic condition who live at home, using an emergency system that can alert a neighbor, friend, family member, or the emergency services is a useful option. This prevents them from being isolated and they can still able to reach out for help should they fall or injure themselves or become incapacitated. Using either a pendant and wrist button alarm system to raise the alarm is something almost anyone can do.

Getting help is just a push button away. Just know that you can find more details here - https:/www.bayalarmmedical.com/medical-alert-system/. A team of professionals at the Bay Alarm call center is there to help. Their award-winning alert system is highly rated on Google (News - Alert) too.

The use of technology is clearly helping to manage chronic diseases to make them more livable and improve treatment protocols. This is excellent news for people who can take advantage of technology to manage their lives better.



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