Treating Obesity and Other Related Conditions with Telehealth

According to the Health Resources Services Administration, telehealth may be defined as "the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration." Telehealth has the potential to improve the treatment of overweight, obesity and related diseases.

A Finnish study analyzed the outcomes of their healthy weight coaching (HWC) program. This is a "web-based obesity management program integrated into standard Finnish clinical care." The program lasts 12 months. And the participants receive coaching support, remotely, in a one-on-one format. The researchers concluded that the HWC is an effective program for helping participants lose weight. And that the program can be integrated into a clinical setting.  

A 2009 study was done in Ottawa Canada to determine the effectiveness of telehealth for home health care. In the study, literature was analyzed to compare the benefits of treating diabetes using telehealth versus treating diabetes using common diabetes treatment procedures. It was found that patients who received treatment via telehealth had a higher quality of life, and experienced less hospitalization than diabetes patients receiving the normal diabetes treatment.

Although the leaders of the Canadian study indicated that more research needs to be done, as stated above, telehealth improved quality-of life and reduced hospitalizations. The use of telehealth also improved glycemic control and patient satisfaction.

A 2007 study was done in the United States to establish the effectiveness of telehealth in treating obesity.  Three weight loss programs were compared. These programs were telehealth, traditional classes, and no program. The study looked at the amount of weight participants regained in each program. The study also assessed a participants' satisfaction with a given program, and the convenience of a program for the participants. Participants in the telehealth program lost slightly more weight than participants in the other two programs.

However, the difference in weight loss was not enormous. But the telehealth group found the telehealth program to be more convenient. And convenience  is important in trying to modify a lifestyle. If one program is more convenient to follow than another, a person is more likely to follow the more convenient program.

Telehealth may elevate the treatment of obesity by making it easier to modify lifestyle. Healthcare providers are paying close attention to telehealth methodology, not only in the fight again overweight and obesity, but, also, in the treatment of other medical conditions.

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We Need to Heighten the Treatment of Prediabetes in the Primary Care Setting

 A person with prediabetes is at a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Kidney difficulties, cardiac problems, strokes, and other comorbidities can all be caused by type 2 diabetes. As a result, both healthcare and community organizations are developing programs to fight prediabetes in the hopes of delaying or preventing type 2 diabetes.
However, primary care organizations must play a larger role in the treatment of prediabetes. And, at the moment, these groups are not engaged in the treatment to the extent that they could.

In a recent study, researchers looked at 3888 patients who were diagnosed with prediabetes based on lab results. The diagnoses were later confirmed. However, only 10.4% of the patients were coded as having prediabetes. Only 5.4% received a prescription for metformin, and only 1.0% of the patients received a nutrition-services referral.

Few individuals with untreated prediabetes are ever notified that they are at high risk for diabetes, according to one study. Furthermore, the study concluded that better patient-centered treatment is required for diabetes prevention, which begins by giving the patients more information.

Primary care organizations, on the other hand, are reticent to diagnose and treat prediabetes for a variety of reasons. There is only a vague understanding of what prediabetes is, and some people do not believe it is a disease. Some argue that because the patient already has enough to worry about, it's not a good idea to give him or her more issues to be concerned about.
 
Other factors contribute to primary care organizations' refusal to provide prediabetes therapy. According to one study, clinicians may be unaware of how successful interventions are at reducing diabetes risk. There may also be a "lack of access to providers of dietary and exercise advice."

In any case, in order to avoid or delay type 2 diabetes, more attention should be paid to the diagnosis and treatment of prediabetes.
And the CDC's National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) is a terrific place to start.

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Tags: environmental scanning, balanced scorecard, business planning, strategic management, bariatric medicine,obesity medicine,medical practice start up,bariatric industry analysis, weight loss industry analysis, weight management industry analysis