MDNews - Greater Boston

"We are equipped to take patients who have just been diagnosed with a vascular problem and start educating them," Dr. Eid says. "This is so important because stud- ies have shown that when you empower patients, they choose more wisely, and often make the less-invasive and less- expensive choice. "We start by telling them, 'Now that you've identif ied t hat you have t his Patient Education and Physician Feedback Via Santovia SANTOVIA IS A third-party educational and feedback platform that enables patients to learn about their health and share decision-making with their physician. The platform also provides the physician immediate patient-driven feedback on their office experience. Ibrahim Eid, MD, one of the founders of the company, says that Santovia gives each patient what he calls advo - cacy education. Integrated with their electronic medical record and accessible through a downloadable app or computer, the Santovia portal presents unbiased educational material, including videos designed to help patients understand their medical conditions and encourage them to assume more responsibility in their health- care decisions. "The patient logs in on the patient portal of our electronic medical records," Dr. Eid explains. "We have what we call a single sign-on mecha- nism where the patient's records move from the EMR to Santovia," Educational materials are customized based on each patient's medical history. To encourage patients to log in, Santovia has a "Learn and Earn" campaign, which rewards patient engagement. Patients not only learn about their medical condition but also view treatment options, including changes to behavioral patterns and lifestyle choices, and potential interventional therapies — all designed to educate and empower them when making health- care decisions. Rajendra Patel, MD, believes that patients want to be involved in their healthcare decisions. "I think the 1980s approach of 'Doctor says you need surgery, so patient has surgery,' has changed," he says. "Nowadays, patients want to know what their choices are, what the risks and benefits are, and they ultimately want to make the decision after they have all the necessary information." Elias Arbid, MD, who has an extensive history of medical education with students, residents and nurses, feels that Santovia provides his patients with additional tools and information they can access from home and thus makes the patient feel that the doctor is with him in his own living room. In addition to educational materials, there are also surveys about their patient experience, which provide invalu- able feedback to physicians. "Every patient who sees me will get the survey," Dr. Eid says. "If the patient is not satisfied with the office experience, we'll fix that immediately, rather than wait for the patient to get the insurance survey weeks later. We'll call the patients and apologize, and answer any questions to make sure they are completely satisfied." problem, we are going to try to prevent it from progressi ng,' We mon itor t he disease a nd provide intensive medica l ca re. We recommend exercise a nd help patients stop smoking. We a lso recom- mend weight loss a nd ma nagement of cholesterol. We tr y not to operate, but if and when the time comes, we can do pro- cedures in the office. We pride ourselves on the fact that, in this practice, we tr y to avoid ever y surger y. Then, if we a re going to do surger y, we pick the lea st-i nva sive a nd t he lea s t c os t ly set t i n g t o perform it." I n f a c t , D r . E i d 's commitment to empow- er ing patients t hroug h educat ion ha s led h i m t o develop Sa nt ov ia , a u s e r -f r i e n d l y p a t i e n t s o f t w a r e p l a t f o r m t hat of fers t hird-pa r t y e duc at ion a l t o ol s a nd f e e d b a c k o p p o r t u n i - t i e s w i t h t h e g o a l o f increasing engagement a nd improving t he decision-ma k ing process, which should involve both the patient a nd the doctor. (See " Patient Education a nd Physicia n Feedback Via Sa ntovia .") Dr. Eid bel ieves sh a red deci sion- ma king ensures patients have a voice in their treatment plans, which ultimately leads to better outcomes. "Instead of me picking out one of the va lid choices a nd telling the patients what they need to do, I tell them, 'There a re actua lly choices in your situation, a nd I'm going to g ive you the tools to ma ke the decision. I'm going to educate you, a nd I'm going to have you ma ke the decision. I'm here a s a counselor. I'm here as a n advocate for you.' "There is a link between educated, empowered patients and cost reduction. And it is a mandate, part of the healthcare reform act, for doctors to show that they are educating their patients." For more information about the Prima CA R E Center for Va scular D isea ses , p l e a s e c a l l 5 0 8 - 6 7 3 - 4 3 2 9 o r v i s i t www.prima-care.com . ■ 0 8 ❱❱❱❱❱ C O V E R S T O R Y

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