Ah, information, how I love thee. Ah, information, how you overwhelm me.
As a person that loves to learn (and apply what I’ve learned), the world wide web has been both an asset and a liability. On the one hand, I love that I have the ability to access information so readily. Click here. Go there. Google it. But on the other hand, how do I know that that the information at my fingertips is valid or verifiable?
As I’ve worked in my small spot on the map of the health care world over the past 7 months, the question of the quality of health information available online has been posed more than once in light of the growing movement toward higher quality, lower cost, patient-centered care. And, as the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) transformation picks up speed, the conversation will no doubt resurface again and again.
So how do we cull the good from the bad while trying to move toward better patient engagement? On the one hand, patients have greater access to health information. That’s good. We don’t want to take that away. On the other, patients have greater access to health information. That’s bad. We do want to lower the risks to the people we care for and arm patients and caregivers with tools that can improve access to better information.
So, how do health care providers, and those like myself that support them, find quality patient-centered health information to share with our patients or guide our patients to viable and trustworthy online resources?
We start sharing. And we change the conversation. We shift from a monologue to a dialogue with the patient at the center.
Wielding the sword
Imagine if you will the impact on health outcomes if we move from an ineffective provider/patient exchange to productive engagement…
Scenario 1: Ineffective provider/patient exchange
Patient: “Hey doc, I found this on the internet. It says I can lower my blood pressure if I…”
Provider: “Don’t believe everything you read online. You just need to lose weight. Now take this medication and let me know if it doesn’t work.”
Scenario 2: Productive engagement
Patient: “Hey doc, I found this on the internet. It says I can lower my blood pressure if I…”
Provider: “There are some great online resources to help you get your blood pressure under control. Where did you find the information?”
Patient: “I found it on…”
Provider: “Is finding information online something that you believe would be helpful to help you get your blood pressure under control?”
Patient: “I think so. I like to find good ideas and try them.”
Provider: “Good. While I’m not familiar with the resource you found, here’s an information prescription for some good online resources that you can check out. Take this, go online, find the resources that you believe can help. If you’re not really sure about what you find, email my staff and they can look at the information with you. Together we can find the best plan that will work for you.”
Productive engagement solutions
I’ll provide you with two quick tools that can help you move toward more productive provider/patient engagement. There are definitely more out there, but for those of you that haven’t started curating content, I wanted to get you off to a slower, more manageable start.
Tool Number One. MedlinePlus.
MedlinePlus is an extremely easy tool that you as a provider or your patients can use to support self-management. You and/or your patients and their caregivers can sign up to proactively receive patient education content via email.
Here’s an example. I’ve signed up for MedlinePlus Weekly Digest Bulletins by health issue (i.e. “high blood pressure”). Here’s what I received:
New on the MedlinePlus High Blood Pressure page:
High blood pressure and diet
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:26:03 -0500
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:26:03 -0500
Blood pressure monitors for home
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:26:03 -0500
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:26:03 -0500
Blood pressure measurement
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:26:03 -0500
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:26:03 -0500
High blood pressure medications
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:26:03 -0500
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:26:03 -0500
Tool Number Two. Kansas PCMHI Summit 2011: Context for Engagement.
Yes, it’s a self-serving plug (Is there really any other kind?), but a good one. The upcoming Kansas PCMHI Summit 2011: Context for Engagement Sep 30 & Oct 1, 2011 at the KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park can help you begin to master self-management support and learn how to effectively use online resources to deliver higher quality, more readily accessible, patient-centered care.
Our keynote speaker, Dr. Kathy Reims will deliver two outstanding presentations to really challenge how we engage our patients in effective self-management. She’ll lay the groundwork by providing context for the conversation and help us:
Explore examples of how practices have utilized SMS in the field
Understand the importance of SMS from a patient perspective
Understand SMS as a change process
Discover tools for SMS that can be adapted by the practice
Learn how to use a 5-step approach for implementing SMS in an ambulatory practice
And when you leave the session, you’ll have the tools you can use to plan the next steps to enhance SMS in your practices.
So, you can keep clicking here. Or going there. Or Google on your own. And you can continue to cringe when you hear: “Hey doc, I found this on the internet…” Or you and your teams can learn to effectively wield the powerful sword of information and deliver higher quality, full access, patient-centered care.
The sword is yours. The choice is yours. You decide.
TO REGISTER FOR THE KANSAS PCMHI SUMMIT – CLICK HERE.
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