Cardiovascular patients crave personalized care, attentive physicians
Cardiovascular patients around the globe want a personalized healthcare experience specifically tailored to their needs, according to a new report published by Abbott. And while 79% of patients said they “believe that their doctor knows the correct treatment plan for them,” 55% said technology can help physicians provide better care.
“Adopting a more holistic view of the healthcare world and putting the patient at the center of it gives us the unique opportunity to align all stakeholders’ needs,” Nick West, MD, chief medical officer of Abbott’s vascular division, said in the report. “Although device companies have traditionally focused on the device and its deployment/utility in an intervention, such a narrow vision does not adequately capture the diverse needs of individual patients, their treatment physicians and the healthcare systems that support them.”
According to the report, patients believe healthcare can become more personalized by including more face-to-face interactions and establishing more of a “consultative, two-way” relationship during appointments. Also, patients see considerable value in giving physicians access to “relevant data pertaining to successes achieved with similar patients” and want physicians to monitor patient progress remotely when necessary.
“Patients’ desire for personalized, highly tailored care could challenge healthcare administrators to rethink the one-size-fits-all programs they’ve designed to help control costs,” according to the report’s authors. “The ultimate goal for all stakeholders should be improving patient experiences, outcomes and value throughout the care continuum.”
On the topic of the patient experience: Eighty-eight percent of all administrators said they view “patient satisfaction” as a “highly important” aspect of the overall patient experience. It has been estimated, the report emphasized, that a dissatisfied patient can cost a provider up to $200,000 over that patient’s lifetime.
For the report, Abbott surveyed more than 1,400 patients, physicians and administrators from the United States, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. Answers were gathered from December 2019 to January 2020, so the COVID-19 pandemic was not yet a primary concern around the world.
More information on the report is available on Abbott’s website.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.