{"id":3506,"date":"2016-11-21T15:27:24","date_gmt":"2016-11-21T20:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelnursesource.com\/notes\/?p=3506"},"modified":"2018-04-19T16:22:03","modified_gmt":"2018-04-19T20:22:03","slug":"digital-therapeutics-lower-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelnursesource.com\/notes\/digital-therapeutics-lower-costs","title":{"rendered":"Digital Therapeutics Lower Healthcare Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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You hear it all the time. Our country is facing a major\u00a0physician shortage<\/a>, but many people don’t realize that we need more registered nurses too. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, there is a projected nursing shortage in the country<\/a> that will only get worse as Baby Boomers continue to age. As we all know, the older we get, the more health care we need.<\/p>\n

With nursing\u00a0schools across the country struggling to expand capacities and a national demand for healthcare reform, it seems that a solution to the issue is nowhere in sight. Short staffed healthcare organizations are\u00a0scheduling nurses for long hours<\/a>, leading to burnout and low satisfaction of nurses. If we cannot expand the number of nurses (or physicians)\u00a0to meet the demand for care, what can we do?<\/p>\n

Healthcare personnel are turning to digital therapeutics to help reduce health care costs and maintain a high\u00a0quality of patient care. By using the medical technology, healthcare organizations are finding that they are able to bridge the gap between care and understaffed facilities. But, just how legitimate are these new technologies?<\/p>\n

Digital Therapeutics: The Hype<\/h2>\n

Digital therapeutics provide low-costs methods to prevent and treat chronic diseases. These are technologically based solutions that allow patients to monitor and manage their disease with fewer visits to their doctor’s office.<\/p>\n

\"nurse<\/p>\n

These technologies are found\u00a0primarily in mobile devices and medical wearables. Using web browsers, apps, or with other medical devices, patients are able to monitor their health status and doctors can get sent reports without seeing a patient for an in-office visit.<\/p>\n

These digital therapeutics keep improving and now use artificial intelligence to drive their apps. There are apps that can monitor patient activity and even intervene in the case of some conditions. There are now pills that have ingestible sensors that will let a doctor know that a medication was actually taken at the right time. There are even asthma inhalers that will monitor the air quality. The data from these devices can be analyzed to tweak and personalize a medical treatment plan.<\/p>\n

The Problem with Chronic Diseases<\/h3>\n

More than half of Americans are affected by a chronic disease. At least 133 million Americans have at least one chronic disease. Chronic diseases also are responsible for more than 85 percent of total\u00a0health care costs. We can only expect to see more adults suffering from chronic diseases as the population of adults 65 and older continues to grow.<\/p>\n

By the year 2050, you can expect\u00a0around 83.7 million people<\/a> in this country to be over the age of 65. That number is nearly double the 2012 estimate of 43.1 million seniors. Seniors are becoming eligible for Medicare at a rate of about 10,000 baby boomers per day.<\/p>\n

Digital therapeutics are going to help these seniors manage their chronic conditions. These new technologies are also being\u00a0tested in clinical trials, and results are being published in peer-revied medical journals. We find that there are more\u00a0and more technologies are being developed for specific diseases and conditions. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) now offers reimbursement on digital therapeutics<\/a> for diabetes prevention and management.<\/p>\n

Digital Therapeutics: The Help<\/h2>\n

Let’s look at some examples of how medical technologies are helping patients manage their health conditions.<\/p>\n

Diabetes Prevention and Management<\/h3>\n

There are more than 29 million people in the United States living with diabetes<\/a>. This is about 9.5% of the population, and that is not including the other 86 million adults that have pre-diabetes. Employees with diabetes will cost an employer about $,4500 per year<\/a> in lost productivity. They also have higher than average medical costs.<\/p>\n

Companies like\u00a0Omada Health<\/a> are creating programs that help to prevent diabetes. Omada has an online, interactive, 16-week course that uses various resources to aid in the reduction of the development of diabetes in pre-diabetic patients. Not only is their program successful, but they are now recognized by the CMS and the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.<\/p>\n

Help to Quit Smoking<\/h3>\n

An employee that smokes tobacco is likely to cost their employer an extra $5,800 per year<\/a>, compared to a non-smoker. Most people know that there are many health risks associated with smoking, but quitting smoking is a hard feat. Approximately 17 percent of adults in the US smoke tobacco.<\/p>\n