Abstract
Over 30% of the people between
the ages of 35 and 65 years old have been diagnosed with a cardiovascular
disease (CVD). These diseases, when left untreated, lead to cardiac
events such as heart attack, bypass surgery, angioplasty, and many
others. After these events, rehabilitation is paramount. If a patient
takes all of his/her prescribed medication and make recommended lifestyle
changes they will not only promote regression of their disease, they
will decrease their chances dying as a result of future cardiovascular
problems by 20-30% according to the ACSM’s Guidelines
for Exercise Testing and Prescription.
Unfortunately,
only 20% the patients who could benefit from cardiovascular rehabilitation
participate. A study published in 1996 cited many reasons for this
lack of participation. Among the most common reasons for lack of participation
among patients were: lack of knowledge, lack of motivation, and lack
of access to care. Larger barriers to participation occurred in the
medical community; these included: lack of resources and facilities,
time and economic constraints, poor communication between specialty
and primary care providers, and lack of policies and standards.
The Phase 3 Communicator
(P3C) will provide a solution to many of these problems. The P3C is
a software application designed to foster communication between cardiac
rehabilitation patients and their health care providers, provide a
means for health care providers to motivate patients, track specific
characteristics of physical fitness in heart patients, and create
a community where cardiac rehabilitation patients can communicate
and support each other. It has been shown that a simple phone call
from a nurse can significantly improve the rate of participation to
85%. Government studies have estimated that participation of as little
as 35-40% of potential cardiac rehabilitation patients could result
in savings of over $40 million dollars in direct medical and non-medical
costs. By increasing the lines of communication and providing motivation
to cardiac rehabilitation patients, the P3C will save the insurance
system money by getting cardiac rehabilitation patients to become
participants in maintaining their health. |
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