By Elizabeth Rolf
Take a look at the Swedish national dashboard for eldercare. It’s a great model. An analytics approach that works, Senior Alert (http://plus.lj.se/senioralert) takes the preventive care of every individual patient and inputs the data outcomes in a quality dashboard for each municipality, accessible to doctors, patients, and the public. The civic leader or ordinary citizen can see how their municipality is doing in reducing pressure ulcers or antipsychotic use, and how many patients who need a preventive intervention have had it done. An interactive data system like this is an aspiration for many in the United States, but in Sweden, it is a wonderful reality. Earlier this month, Goran Hendriks, Susanne Lundblad, and Dennis Nordvall presented Sweden’s action plan to an audience in a webinar, which is available online. Many were able to see the results that this remarkable, comprehensive dashboard provides to guide improvement in preventive care by tracking data concerning the risks of falls, pressure ulcers, malnutrition, poor oral health, and incontinence. The information gained in a systematic way is often useful to understand how to treat the problem areas for each elderly patient as an individual, but the exciting application is the guidance it provides for shaping the care system for the entire elderly population of a particular municipality or country.
Lilly, age 95, provides the example used to demonstrate Senior Alert. Her story centers on declining health, increasing disability, and need of reliable care process. The registry that monitors her condition and services helps ensure comprehensive care. By registering Lilly for Senior Alert, her doctor, her family and she are assured that she will have a risk assessment by a team of professionals who will recommend and implement preventive interventions, evaluate these interventions and adjust accordingly.
The data system combines Lilly’s data with all from her geo-political area and provides up-to-date and interactive information as to the progress of each municipality and county with regard to excellent preventive service for fragile elderly persons.
Senior Alert was implemented in 2010, and in the last four years, all 21 counties in Sweden use the program and 288 of 290 municipalities are involved as well. In addition to public programs, 129 private health care providers use Senior Alert. In this time, patients are receiving personalized care plans, along with fewer risks to the patients because of the attention to the needs of each patient. As the process is followed, both the patient and the doctor can see improved results, and these results can be viewed publically online. The data collected can be used to track prevention progress daily for individual patients in many different categories, but collectively creating a reliable care process for Sweden’s entire elderly population. All results keep the patient confidential of course, but the public can access results of various actions.
Want to know more?
Link to Senior Alert: http://plus.lj.se/senioralert
