Making the patient part of the treatment process

10 Jun 2016

There is a growing trend of patient activism across the world, which refers to the approach in which the person seeking medical assistance becomes part of the treatment regimen rather than simply following orders by healthcare practitioners.

Making the patient part of the treatment process

“What we’re seeing is a patient who wants to be part of the process and not sitting outside the team [of medical practitioners],” says Professor Morgan Chetty, CEO of the KwaZulu-Natal Managed Care Coalition, who adds that healthcare systems across the world need to refocus their models in order to be patient-centric.

Shift in power structure

“Partnering with patients is about a fundamental shift in the power structure in healthcare and a renewed focus on the core mission of health systems,” he says.

One of the first steps in achieving this goal is through educating medical practitioners on the importance of listening to their patients. Studies have shown that it only takes an average of 19 seconds before a patient’s input into a conversation is interrupted by their medical practitioner.

“Person-centred care is not just about giving people whatever they want or providing information, it is about considering peoples desires, values, family situations, social circumstances and lifestyles; seeing the person as an individual and working together to develop appropriate solutions,” Chetty says.

Need for new models

Empowering the patient and their family to be a part of their care is also one of the cornerstones of an approach to healthcare known as patient-centred medical homes (PCMHs). Dr Anton Prinsloo, IT director at Independent Practitioners Association Foundation, says that factors such as long waiting times and rushed consultations point toward the need for new models of healthcare, such as PCMHs, to be explored. “The current way patients receive primary care is not working for either patients or providers.”

Prinsloo points out that PCMHs, in addition to patient empowerment, are designed to improve quality of care through the coordination of a variety of healthcare practitioners, treating the many needs of the patient at once and increasing access to care.

Technology drives down costs

The latter can be achieved through innovations such as wearable technology which track health stats, digital consultations via streaming services and electronic portals where healthcare providers and patients alike can access their medical history at any time and any location.

Prinsloo adds that by using such technology, PCMHs can drive down costs associated with primary healthcare, which is vital to the wellbeing of both the individual and society at large.

“For most, primary healthcare is the entry point and touchstone of the healthcare system, delivering and coordinating care for patients and families, with an emphasis on population health and managing chronic illness,” says Prinsloo.