The IAA One Minute Blog

The United States economy spends more than $8,000 per person per year on healthcare. Patients who don't take part in their own medical care and who don't know how to, end up costing the U.S. medical system big time. The trick to eliminating this problem: getting doctors and clinics to change their ways so that patients can do more to take care of themselves.

Taking Ownership of Your Health

A 2013 report in the journal, "Health Affairs," showed that unengaged patients cost between 8 percent and 21 percent more than patients who are actively engaged in their healthcare. Getting these patients more involved is essential to cutting the soaring medical costs in the U.S.

Doctors and patients can try different approaches to help make patients more active in their healthcare decisions:

• Access to medical records: The federal government is promoting new initiatives to give millions of Americans access to medical records online so patients can use them to better manage their health. Providers are mining those records to find patients who aren't compliant with their regimens or missing preventative care, and nudging them to take action.
• Goals: An impediment to sustained and better health is the fact that we don't think about it much. Rather than send patients out with a to-do list, physicians might send them on a path, with milestones and a purpose. Patients do better when there is an objective.
• Meet patients where they are: A good approach for doctors is to meet patients where they are in life. The usual approach of giving people a list of what they have to change in their lives may seem too much. It may set them up for failure. Doctors should make patients feel that they have ownership over their condition and that they can take care of themselves.
• Mobile apps: With a flood of new fitness and health apps, consumers can plug data from their own medical record to generate a fitness regimen.
• Patience: Just because patients don't do what their doctors tell them to, doesn't make them irrational. They may have what, to them, seem like perfectly valid reasons to ignore their doctor's advice. Understanding these reasons and fleshing them out can be a way to pursue other, more promising approaches.
  
• Repetition: Doctors should write down their advice for patients. Just because a patient is listening, doesn't mean they understand what the doctor is saying.
• Resources: Patients are going to go to the Internet in search of more information and answers, and they might as well start where their doctor tells them to. Doctors should help identify websites and online support groups.
  

According to the National Patient Safety Foundation, more engaged patients have lower costs and better health outcomes.

Helping Children and Teens

It is hard to get patients at any age to take medication consistently, but it is especially hard when it comes to children and teens. So, some hospitals and doctors are looking for new ways to keep youngsters on their medications and avoid the expensive and dangerous complications that arise when they don't.

A number of hospitals are now experimenting with ways to keep children on their medications including sending text message reminders and electronic devices that monitor when a pill bottle has been opened.

Tracking adherence as children become teenagers and gain more independence from their parents is critical. If a teenager isn't prepared to accept responsibility for taking prescribed medications regularly, adherence can drop off. It is important that children and teens are actively engaged with their healthcare, so that they can become healthy adults.

How IAA can Help

Insurance Administrator of America wants to help clients and client members stay healthy. That is why IAA provides a variety of resources to help engage members in their healthcare. With IAA's Member Mobile App, members can access their healthcare information and health and wellness information. All of this enables members to better their health. Remember, with IAA one call does it all.

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