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Program Links Diabetic Kids With Doctors
Program Links Diabetic Kids With Doctors -- Posted by Gumbo on 11-30-04 16:29
Program Links Diabetic Kids With Doctors
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Diabetic 9-year-old Gabe Mathews had very low blood sugar
before a test, but hours later at home his mother found it to be far too
high.
Such swings are common for children with Type I diabetes, the rarer form of
the disease, which affects 206,000 people under the age of 20.
Notifying doctors of such rapid changes in blood sugar can be a challenge,
but doing so can help determine a cause and quickly change an insulin
regimen, said Gabe's mother, Michele Kilo, a physician at Children's Mercy
Hospital in Kansas City.
"As you can imagine with any family's lifestyle, you're always on the move,"
she said.
Cerner Corp., one of the country's largest providers of electronic health
care records, on Wednesday unveiled a $25 million plan to provide a
Web-based system connecting all children with Type I diabetes with their
physicians for free.
The 10-year effort will establish personal health care records for each
child, which can be accessed by the patient's family and health care
provider through a secure Web site. It will record glucose levels,
carbohydrates and insulin injections, reducing clinical visits and possibly
heading off medical problems.
"We're really trying to prove the value of connecting a person with a
chronic medical condition with their physician," said Neal Patterson, chief
executive of Kansas City-based Cerner. "We think that's one of the most
valuable things information technology can do."
Besides helping diabetics, however, the campaign is also an early experiment
in the burgeoning area of electronic health records.
The Bush administration has set a goal that most Americans will have
computerized health records available within a decade. Supporters contend
electronic records avoid medical mistakes, improve care and are cheaper to
store than paper records. Critics often cite privacy and costs as concerns.
Patterson said that by the time the diabetes program is over, he expects the
market for such online, on-demand records to be in full swing - and for
Cerner to have staked its place in that market.
"We're not trying to be a consumer brand in the near term," he said. "But we
are glad that it will get us greater recognition in the community."
Children's Mercy is one of 16 hospitals and health centers around the
country that have agreed to participate in Cerner's program and recommend it
to patients.
Patients and doctors will not need any additional equipment or software
other than an Internet connection. Patterson said "proxies," such as
libraries and school health clinics, could be used for children whose
households don't have Internet access.
Dr. Nathaniel Clark, national vice president for clinical affairs of the
American Diabetes Association, said it's unclear how many children the
program could ultimately serve. But he said improving communication between
patient and doctor is critical for such a disease, since delays in treatment
can quickly snowball into emergencies that can lead to complications such as
blindness and amputation.
"There's the potential of improving the quality of care and the use of the
health system," he said.
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