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EFFECT OF PATIENT DEMOGRAPHICS ON THEIR TREATMENT IN MODERN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

Author: Anila Talluru

Introduction:

Patient demographics entry plays a key role in patient treatment. Patient demographics include age, biological sex, race, ethnicity, income, name, allergies contain, occupation and about their social life along with medical insurance. According to these demographics details doctor and other health care professionals can give efficient treatment, which improve their therapeutic efficacy. They help in medical billing and medical coding process and make easy to claim. Collecting this data provides higher quality care and better treatment.

To determine the effectiveness of patient demographics entry on their treatment in modern health care system.

Importance of patient demographics:

Collecting patient demographics helps to ease the billing process. It helps the patient to obtain their reimbursement from concerned insurance provider under defined healthcare scheme. Improper patient demographics cause confusion and delay in claiming their insurance.

Patient demographics help us to improve the quality of treatment and care received by them. Previously known allergies, diagnosis, medications help doctors in providing better treatment protocol and reduce drug-drug interactions, drug-food interactions, adverse effects…etc.

Patient demographics help us to understand the statistical interpretation of national health index that informs us mortality rate, fatality rate and helps the government in implementing new healthcare programs for their people and to improve their country’s national health rankings.

Steps in collecting patient demographics details:

Asking right questions:

While taking patient demographics, make sure to cross check with previous details. For example, instead of asking direct questions like “Is your data updated or not?” ask simple questions like “Is your address  same are not? If not please update your address”. This makes patient comfortable and tension free. Explain the need of updating their address or phone number. “Please update your phone number or email id so that we can provide current medical bills that prevents from overdue billing and contact for alternative treatment.” This helps the patient to communicate with professionals with an ease.

Determination of right questions:

We should know how to collect patient demographic details without discomforting patient and maintaining patient-doctor confidentiality. In most cases patient does not feel secure if details collected in open area i.e. in front of other patients or patient caretakers. Collecting information in online makes patient feel secure as they fill the form while alone in home. Phone call by nurse for taking patient demographics is also another option.

Maintaining EMR platform:

Maintaining proper electronic medical record platform helps the enterer in entering patient demographics with ease and less time consuming. EMR helps in automatic repetitive updates that are very helpful for the person who is entering patient details. Some EMR softwares also validate information while entering.

Quality improvement strategy:

Hospitals in collaboration with data entry centers should come up with quality improvement strategy to overcome problems and get updated with latest technology.

Investigations:

These tables are an example of how demographic details help in statistical interpretation of data in a state and country.

Association between diabetes and age, gender and ethnicity.

* Age serves as a contributor to diabetes (p= 0.002)
Indicates P value is less than 0.05 and statistically significant.

Association between hypertension and age, gender, ethnicity

* Age serves as a contributor to hypertension (P=0.001)
Indicates P value is less than 0.05 and statistically significant.

• Improved efficiency and effectiveness.
• Improved productivity and accuracy.
• Reduce demographic related denials in claiming insurance.
• Streamline patient demographic entry along with billing and coding.
• Client centric approach eases the process.

Discussion & Conclusion:

Collecting patient demographics by health care professionals helps prescribers in many ways such as follow proper dose regimen (pediatric dose and geriatric dose) and if any allergies to penicillin, in this condition penicillin and penicillin related drugs can be avoided.

Based on occupation, diseases like COPD, asthma, bronchitis can occur. Treatment, medications are given according to that condition. Patient demographics have a huge impact on patient treatment as their surrounding environments (place of living) have a correlation with their health. If a person lives near to industrial area, his lung capacity decreases because of prolonged exposure to harmful gases release from industries. His blood level also contains traces of elements that are harmful for his health.

Efficiently trained medical staffs are required to collect patient demographics details as they play important role in patient treatment and care. Most conventional hospitals use soap or farm formats in taking patient demographic details.

Trained medical staff can categorize patient demographics details into following categories like subjective findings, objective findings in soap note format. Taking patient history by medical staff or clinical pharmacist can decrease the time and work load on doctors, thus results in better treatment outcome and the doctor can check more number of patients.

Electronic database consist of patient history along with full details. In most hospitals this electronic databases are used to store patient details. Each patient is given a unique identification number, which helps both patient and medical professional easy to access the details of patient.

Patient data collection and storage is a huge problem, which without proper system,  will be a lot of confusion. Hard copy storage of patient details consist of many cons such as need for a large room with huge storage capacity, difficult to access individual patient file; missing of any reports can be problematic to patient treatment.

In modern healthcare system; there are many database software that are easy to operate, easy to access patient data, as  missing of any reports (individual papers) would not be possible in electronic database. this type of system does not require large space to store bulk data, as this data is stored in hard drive, pen drive etc.

Bibliography

• El Said A, Patil R, Leone B, et al. (9 aug 2022). Assessing the Impact of Demographic Factors on Presenting Conditions or Complaints Among Internal Medicine Patients in an Underserved Population in Central Florida. Cureus 14(8): e27811. DOI 10.7759/cureus.27811
• Max Freedman. (2022, jun 29). patient demographics and why they are important. Retrieved from business news daily: www.businessnewsdaily.com
• Solomon Odafe, O. I. (2012). patients demographic and clinical characteristics and level of care associated with lost to follow up and mortality in adult patients on first line ART in Nigerian hospitals. Journal of the international aids society.