Leveraging Digital Health to Improve Patient Satisfaction

Ochsner Health System used digital health solutions in their battle to improve chronic disease management across the state of Louisiana. Diabetes and hypertension, chronic diseases that require numerous office visits and regular health monitoring, were two targets for developing digital health tools. With these tools, providers can measure a patient’s compliance and health without the patient coming into the office.

For hypertension patients, Ochsner provided remote monitoring devices to measure blood pressure. Using a minimum of one reading per week, data is automatically uploaded into the EHR, where it is used to identify changes in patient health and trigger interventions if needed. If a patient does not submit a reading within eight days, they receive a text reminding them to take a reading.

Diabetes patients utilized a similar tool—a wireless, digital glucometer to measure blood sugar—with monthly automated reports advising them of their progress.

Using the data collected by the remote monitoring devices, care coordinators and subject matter experts—like pharmacists and health coaches—leverage dashboards to intervene if a patient shows signs of deterioration or is not following the care plan. Providers can drill down to individual patient-level data and receive progress summaries for all patients enrolled in the program.