Managing chronic care: how to decrease exacerbations

Abstract

The Spanish Health System and almost every single health system from developed countries, has to face a very important problem that is the raise of the healthcare demand.

In the past years, thanks to health and medical innovations, health systems have been able to save many lives. The counterpart however, is that before all the patients that were losing their life, now they remain chronically sick for life. This represents much higher costs for the health system because they have to treat those patients for a much longer period of time.

In addition to these medical costs it should also be added the fact that these people need someone who takes care of them. Before, that the person used to be a woman between 35 and 65 years, but now these women no longer remains at home to work. Not only that, but every time families have fewer children, which means there will be fewer people to take care of the elderly. To sum up, more elderly, fewer young people who can take care of them, higher demand for care.

Watching an elderly user of any European or American health system, we find that the vast majority (68% of patients aged 65 and above) have two chronic diseases. This type of patient is responsible for 91% of prescriptions prescribed or 76% of visits to doctors. In general terms, they are responsible of 75% of health expenditure.

The problem becomes when the Spanish health system and other systems, are not able to adapt the services offered to the needs of the population, especially if these population rang is expected to grow, in many cases even to duplicate in number by 2050.

The health systems are offering services that focus on single conditions, but most clients of this service suffer two or more diseases at the same time. This means that patients receive poorly coordinated service, which implies that they are not meeting their needs. In many cases (especially when patients suffer from various unrelated diseases), this can mean that patients do not recover as fast as they should, generating more costs.

In order to provide the service they need and deserve, many health systems are evolving towards a more integrated system of care. At a primary level, expanding the role of Nurse Case Managers, which promotes cooperation between different departments and also between the different professionals.

This thesis studies the role of the Nurse Case Manager, specifically studies the factors that make a patient to be derived to a Nurse Case Manager, as a tool to study the factors that make a patient have an exacerbations. Specifically, and after a first general study of all possible factors, focuses on social risk and non-adherence to treatment as two key factors in preventing exacerbations.

El sistema sanitari es veu abocat a afrontar un altre problema, que és l’augment de demanda sanitària que s’està produint en el sector, però que encara serà molt més acusada en els propers anys.

Ens els darrers anys, i gràcies a les millores sanitàries i les innovacions mèdiques, s’han pogut salvar moltes vides. Per altra banda, aquests malats ara queden crònics de per vida. Això pel sistema sanitari representa uns costos molts majors, ja que se’ls ha de tractar durant un període de temps molt més llarg. A més, també s’ha d’afegir el fet que aquestes persones necessiten algú que se’n faci càrrec, i degut els canvis demogràfics cada vegada n’hi haurà menys.

Observant a un usuari d’edat avançada de qualsevol sistema sanitari europeu o nord-americà, ens trobem que en la seva gran majoria tenen dues malalties cròniques. Aquest pacients són els causants dels 75% de la despesa sanitària.

El problema esdevé quan el sistema sanitari espanyol, i la majoria de la resta de sistemes, no són capaços d’adaptar els serveis que ofereixen a les necessitats de la població, i en especial, quan aquesta població creixerà fins en molts casos duplicar-se en nombre cap a l’any 2050.

El sistemes sanitaris estan oferint serveis que es focalitzen en una sola malaltia, però la majoria de clients pateixen dues malalties o més a la vegada. Això provoca que aquest pacients rebin un servei poc planificat i pobrament coordinat.

Per tal de poder oferir el servei que necessiten i es mereixen aquests usuaris, molts sistemes sanitaris estan evolucionant cap a un sistema de cures més integrades.

Aquesta tesi estudia el rol de la infermera gestora de casos, en concret estudia els factors que fan que un pacient hagi de ser derivat a aquesta com a instrument per estudiar els factors que fan que un pacient tingui una crisi de salut. En concret, y després d’un primer estudi general de tots els possibles factors, es centra en el risc social i en la no adherència al tractament com a dos factors clau en la prevenció de l’aparició d’aquestes crisis de salut que pateixen els pacients.