Understanding Chronic Disease
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explain chronic diseases as “health conditions that last one year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living, or both. Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States”. Other chronic diseases include lung disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and kidney disease. Six in ten adults in the U.S. have a chronic disease and four in ten adults have two or more chronic diseases. Many of these cases can be managed by lowing the major risk factors, which are tobacco use, poor nutrition, lack of physical activity, and excessive alcohol use.
How Telehealth Interventions Improve and Manage Chronic Disease
The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends telehealth interventions to help reduce and manage chronic disease risk factors and conditions in patients. CPSTF found that the use of telehealth interventions can improve medication adherence, such as outpatient follow-up; clinical outcomes, such as blood pressure control; and dietary outcomes, such as eating more nutritiously.
The American Telemedicine Association describes some of the most common telehealth strategies to include virtual visits, chat-based communications, remote patient monitoring, and technology-enabled modalities. These strategies improve patient access by extending the geographic reach and expertise of healthcare providers. With worldwide healthcare staffing shortages, telehealth is a popular solution and has a unique appeal of conveniency. This contributes to improved quality of care because healthcare appointments are no longer required to be in-person. Telehealth reduces the cost of healthcare with better management of chronic diseases, shared health professional staffing, reduced hospital times, and fewer hospital stays.
The components of telehealth that have been shown to be effective to manage chronic disease is text-messaging, web-based content and applications, and interactive content, such as patients sending health data to their health care provider, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Telehealth Solution for Chronic Care
Using Synzi, Health care providers can check in, monitor, care, and treat their patients with chronic disease. Providers and staff can conduct virtual visits and use secure messaging such as text and email. Virtual visits can expand patient access to care while also improving the level and frequency of care that patients receive. With Synzi, there was an 85-90% increase in appointments kept and sixty-six percent reduction in costly hospital readmissions. Chronic disease lingers and Synzi is here to support the provider and patient every step of the way by providing patients with care after hours, weekends, and when in-person visits may be restricted.
Synzi’s virtual care platform and HIPAA-compliant communication features helps clinicians and staff provide better – more timely and higher quality – care to those living with chronic disease through:
- Strengthened patient engagement
- Deepened patient adherence
- Reduced the risk of rehospitalizations
- Enhancing patient and provider satisfaction
- Improving impact and outcomes for all
Learn how Synzi helps providers support their patients managing chronic disease and set up a demo here.