People nowadays can enjoy numerous benefits that were not available to their ancestors. That includes living in warm houses, constant access to high-quality food and clean water, new technologies, and better healthcare service, to name a few. Additionally, with the continuously growing quality of life, its duration also increases. However, on the flip side, people also started consuming high-calorie food and moving significantly less. As a result, an increasing number of individuals every year suffer from more than one chronic disease throughout their lives. In this regard, Reynolds et al. (2018) state that 40% of Australians over 44 years old, 50% of 65-74 years old, and 75% of people over 80 years old suffer from chronic disease multi-morbidity. Moreover, Caskey et al. (2019) maintain that in the United States, 25% of children have at least one chronic disease. Such a trend in public health is associated with increased treatment costs. Therefore, medical institutions should take special measures to address the increasing expenditures. For that reason, this paper seeks to discuss what should be done to reduce costs associated with supply over-usage and how my organization informs its employees concerning this issue.
The first thing that managers should do to decrease costs that arise from an increasing number of people with chronic diseases is patient education. That includes training concerning disease prevention measures such as a healthy diet, physical activities, smoke/alcohol avoidance, and helping sick people and their relatives to acquire certain skills. For instance, the latter can include massage and breathing technics and administration of intramuscular injections. Also, hospitals should seek to implement digital solutions to the healthcare provision process (Talboom-Kamp et al., 2019). New technologies can facilitate patient training, communication between caregivers and receivers, and increase compliance with treatment. For instance, messages from hospitals can remind people to take pills. Therefore, adopting at least one of the strategies mentioned above would help medical institutions reduce their costs.
My organization constantly seeks to reduce treatment expenditures. For instance, managers gradually implement new technologies into work by purchasing computers and tablets and improving electronic platforms with patient data. Moreover, administrators usually remind us (workers) about the importance of patient education and how it helps to reduce hospital costs. For instance, doctors are required to discuss with people the necessity to lead a healthy lifestyle and avoid bad habits with people who belong to risk groups.
Reference
Caskey, R., Moran, K., Touchette, D., Martin, M., Munoz, G., Kanabar, P., & Van Voorhees, B. (2019). Effect of comprehensive care coordination on Medicaid expenditures compared with usual care among children and youth with chronic disease: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open, 2(10), 1-10. Web.
Reynolds, R., Dennis, S., Hasan, I., Slewa, J., Chen, W., Tian, D., Bobba, S. & Zwar, N. (2018). A systematic review of chronic disease management interventions in primary care. BMC Family Practice, 19(1), 1-13. Web.
Talboom-Kamp, E. P., Verdijk, N. A., Harmans, L. M., Numans, M. E., & Chavannes, N. H. (2016). An eHealth platform to manage chronic disease in primary care: an innovative approach. Interactive Journal of Medical Research, 5(1). Web.