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• Biobank, in which patients can contribute tissue
and blood samples to assist UCLA researchers
in using advanced technology to identify disease
and risk profiles for complications and drug side
effects, as well as new treatments.
With the use of current personal communication
devices (provided as loans for those who don’t
have their own), patients operate an easy-to-use
program to transmit information on disease
activity, quality of life and work productivity,
as well as laboratory data to ensure tight
monitoring of their disease. Created with
substantial patient input and featuring attractive
user interfaces, the secure Web-based program
also serves as a one-stop source for everything
from setting appointments to checking on
real-time traffic around UCLA.
Most important are the monitoring tools, driven
by validated home-care indexes for disease
activity. Patients with active disease are asked to
input values every two weeks for a period of six
weeks, those whose disease is in remission every
two months. Different tight control scenarios are
offered depending on the patient’s disease activity
and are organized around the medications needed
and the required monitoring. Based on patients’
inputs, their care is constantly fine-tuned. When
patients are concerned about symptoms, a self-
administered questionnaire helps to guide them.
Meanwhile, any registered dip in the patient’s VQ
based on abnormal inputs or patient complaints
alerts the clinical team, and the collected data
guides the team to additional steps, which can
include an e-consult or change in medication.
“Many patients with chronic disease are anxious
and depressed — not because of the disease per
se, but because of what they don’t know,” says
Dr. Hommes. “They don’t know what to expect,
how to organize their lives, how to deal with their
loved ones and engage socially. Helping patients
become informed, active participants in their
care makes a big difference for these individuals.”
Equally important, Dr. Hommes notes, is the
ability of technology to address issues of cost
and quality. “Seventy percent of U.S. healthcare
expenditures are related to chronic diseases,”
he says. “Providing better, more cost-effective
management of these diseases requires smart
monitoring, and that can’t be done in hospitals.
Embracing all that technology offers can help
us to deliver better organized care by capturing
data and turning it into information and
decision support for doctors to direct patients
in the best care.”
Dr. Hommes believes his
center’s approach, which
employs iPads, smart
phones and other home
devices, can serve as a
model for the management
of other chronic diseases.
For more information about the UCLA
Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases’
use of technology for patient education
and monitoring, go to:
www.gastro.ucla.edu/ibd 1 1 UCLA Physicians Update