Hospitalisation is not welcomed by anyone, but with the perils of modern life, it has become inevitable. Hospitals who have a focus on delivering quality care have made significant investments and improved the infrastructure inside the hospital. The admission process to care delivery and multi-disciplinary review by doctors to ensure patients are treated best and effectively is ensured thru various systems that are inside the hospital.
But unfortunately, the treatment to be effective post-discharge care is very essential, and that is
where today’s health systems are falling. As Hospitals and Doctors move from case to case,
despite their best intent, they are unable to continue to be in touch with patients and engage them
post discharge. The onus is lying on the patients to come back to doctors/hospitals, thus the
treatment efficacy is undermined especially if recovery process is long after the hospitalisation
procedures.
Hospitals/Doctors can avail the technology to improve post-discharge care, some of the necessary steps that help to improve patient engagement areas listed below.
- Assure that there is close and trusted interaction between the patient when he leaves the
hospital. - Upload the discharge summary, medication and diet charts for the patient and make them
available to the patient and the family to follow up. Online records of the same and with
medication reminders for timely medicines will be a big help for the patient and their family - Conduct patient health assessments periodically at the convenience of the home of patient using
health care platform. - Schedule and conduct teleconsultations to ensure the access of experts thru healthcare
platform. - Accessible and respond to text messages from the patient to build much-needed trust.
Technology can help Hospitals and Doctors manage this critical aspect of providing continuity of care. VitaCuro, digital healthcare platform is built for providing continuity care. Hospitals and
Doctors while discharging the patient can upload the discharge summary, medication, and diet
needs for the patient on VitaCuro and provide access to Patient and their family. The patient
would get automatic medication reminders and the patient/family can update the diet diary, which
in real time can be seen by the hospital/Doctors to ensure the treatment plan is followed.
Hospitals can also send their trained paramedic staff to conduct periodic health assessments using VitaCuro, doctors can schedule teleconsultations to ensure regular touch points with the patients as part of the recovery process. The secured messaging helps doctors and patients stay connected in case of any clarifications.
The objective of the hospitals and doctors to provide quality care and provide continuity beyond the hospital premises helps in building their reach to people with technology platforms.
