Stotts, Matthew Jonathon and Grischkan, Justin Alexander and Khungar, Vandana (2019) Improving cirrhosis care: the potential for telemedicine and mobile health technologies. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 25, (29), pp. 3849-3856. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i29.3849.
External website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC66898...
Decompensated cirrhosis is a condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality. While there have been significant efforts to develop quality metrics that ensure high-value care of these patients, wide variations in clinical practice exist. In this opinion review, we discuss the quality gap in the care of patients with cirrhosis, including low levels of compliance with recommended cancer screening and other clinical outcome and patient-reported outcome measures. We posit that innovations in telemedicine and mobile health (mHealth) should play a key role in closing the quality gaps in liver disease management. We highlight interventions that have been performed to date in liver disease and heart failure-from successful teleconsultation interventions in the care of veterans with cirrhosis to the use of telemonitoring to reduce hospital readmissions and decrease mortality rates in heart failure. Telemedicine and mHealth can effectively address unmet needs in the care of patients with cirrhosis by increasing preventative care, expanding outreach to rural communities, and increasing high-value care. We aim to highlight the benefits of investing in innovative solutions in telemedicine and mHealth to improve care for patients with cirrhosis and create downstream cost savings.
G Health and disease > Digestive system disease > Liver disease > Liver cirrhosis
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Treatment and maintenance > Treatment factors
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Health care delivery
N Communication, information and education > Telehealth / Telemedicine / mHealth / eHealth
N Communication, information and education > Communication > Online communication / social media > Internet / online
N Communication, information and education > Digital technology
VA Geographic area > United States
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