Getting The Most Out Of HowsYourHealth

Before Beginning

Visit http://HowsYourHealth.org and enter XXX000 (3 zeros not letter O's) to complete a sample survey. Act "sick" to see all the features. Make sure that all people will be involved with the program "test-drive" it. Finally, invite the office staff to try it.
Now Review a Five Point Picture Explanation about how best to use HowsYourHealth

Engage Users

Think about how you will enroll users. To invite persons to use http://HowsYourHealth.org, you might try posting or distributing the following general invitation.

_____ is committed to finding better ways to improve health and medical care for our patients. We are offering "HowsYourHealth," which can help improve your ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Here is how it works.

• Find an Internet connection. You may use any computer, which has Internet access, at home, at a friend's home, or at the library. The survey takes about 10 minutes.

• Use the Internet browser and enter http://www.HowsYourHealth.org 1 in the address window.

• Click on the SURVEY option and follow the steps to the "How's Your Health" survey.

• When requested, "enter ____" and complete the survey. (Don't worry. If you don't have a code you will be able to complete a survey too).

• You and your family members can complete the survey by selecting the appropriate age and sex. All of your answers are confidential - no name identification is required. Based on your answers, you will be given special information personalized to your needs.

• Upon completion, you will also receive an "Action Form" and other forms which will summarize your results. We encourage to share this with your doctor or nurse.

• Thank you for taking time to complete the survey.

Since physicians are typically the rate-limiting factor in medical care, and most are primarily oriented toward diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making, the monitoring and education needed by patients with chronic diseases often gets short-shrift. Therefore, using guideline-based standing orders for other staff and interactions with nurses to accomplish desired care goals would be more successful.

Instead of just checking the patient's weight, blood pressure or pulse before sending the patient to the physician, the LPN or MA checks for other important preventive and patient-relevant issues. For patients aged 19-69 the nurse would usually inquire about the presence of 3-5 Common Chronic Conditions, Pain, Health Habits, Feelings, and Medication Problems. You can download the forms and more information about C.A.R.E. in RTF and PDF format by choosing:

http://HowsYourHealth.com/html/CARE.pdf

http://HowsYourHealth.com/html/vital.pdf

http://HowsYourHealth.com/html/CAREVitalSignsTemplate.rtf

http://HowsYourHealth.com/html/phone_follow_and_info.doc

When an issue is identified during this " C.A.R.E. Vital Sign" process, the nurse informs the patient about valuable resources for self-management and brings the issue to the attention of the clinician. The clinician is in a powerful position to further reinforce and direct patient self-management. After the clinic visit the C.A.R.E. Vital Sign form is given to the patient as a reminder to use the practice's interaction technology before the next office visit.

Technology will increasingly enable a standard of care customized to the needs of individual patient. The " C.A.R.E. Vital Sign" process illustrates how currently available web technology can minimize unwanted variation and maximize patient-centered care.