chronic disease – Silver Fern Healthcare

May 20, 2022

Medication Non-Adherence: Unlocking Key Barriers for Lasting Behavior Change

Convincing patients with chronic diseases to take their medication correctly and consistently can be difficult. Medication non-adherence creates a variety of maladaptations ranging from treatment failure to dangerous pharmacological interactions, all negatively impacting the patient’s health. The financial costs are also staggering. Hospitalizations caused by non-adherence costs upwards of $100 billion (about $310 per person in the US) annually. Since non-adherence can have many triggers, it is necessary to tackle the problem from both the individual …

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March 9, 2022

Diabetes Emotional Distress – Using the 7 A’s Model in Clinical Practice

Practice Points - Diabetes Emotional Distress

In his recent post, Are Clinicians Missing Part of their Patients’ Story?, Garry Welch, Ph.D. described why it is important for clinicians who provide care for people with diabetes to understand what diabetes distress is and how it differs from depression. If depression has been identified properly through a screening tool, clinicians in non—provider roles …

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March 8, 2022

Five Ways Clinicians Can Support a Patient Experiencing Diabetes Distress

Studies show that approximately 20–45% of patients living with diabetes are emotionally overwhelmed and at risk of disengaging from treatment or becoming depressed. Few doctors are aware of these patient struggles, but “diabetes distress” as it is known clinically, is now recognized as a key “vital sign” by both the Centers for Disease Control and the American Diabetes Association. These rates show that …

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March 5, 2022

Diabetes Emotional Distress – Are Clinicians Missing Part of their Patients’ Story?

Today, healthcare organizations and clinicians are increasingly asked by payors and employers to improve care quality, reduce gaps in care, and foster patient engagement in treatment. This is part of a growing national emphasis on value-based and whole-person care, particularly for the costly chronic conditions that impact more than 133 million people in the US. …

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November 30, 2021

A better way to address Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy: Listening, engaging, and moving forward

As of mid-November 2021, the US Covid-19 death toll is about 757,000 from 47 million cases. There is broad consensus across the medical community that the most effective way for individuals to avoid the most serious consequences of Covid and for communities to stop the spread is through vaccination. With the Delta variant mostly in …

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September 28, 2021

Survey Reveals Patients are Willing to Share Health Insights Prior to Doctor Visit to Help Meet Health Goals

crop ethnic client discussing problems with anonymous psychologist

A nationally representative survey, commissioned by Silver Fern Healthcare, revealed 97% of Americans are willing to provide information about their daily health habits if that information allowed their provider to help them reach their health goals (e.g., lose weight, eat healthy, prevent or manage chronic disease). Silver Fern’s survey also measured the ideal length of patient health …

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September 8, 2021

Helping Patients with Chronic Disease see the Benefits of Utilizing Emerging Healthcare Technologies

man and woman sitting on sofa while looking at a tablet computer

In the two years since COVID-19 entered the world’s consciousness, the adoption of patient-facing technologies has advanced significantly. Pandemic restrictions created the need to extend care beyond the doctors’ office and technology provided the answer. Telemedicine, patient portals, remote patient monitoring, and digital assessment became viable options for providers to continue care for patients with …

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September 3, 2021

Staying Connected: Why Treating Loneliness is Essential to Improving Health

Loneliness is on the rise. In a 2020 survey by Cigna, more than 60 percent of respondents reported “…feeling lonely, left out, poorly understood, and lacking companionship.” For individuals living with chronic disease, this lack of connection can impact their response to treatment and disease progression. For example, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found …

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July 28, 2021

Helping Patients Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Sleeping regularly and adequately is indispensable for quality of life. Getting a good night’s sleep contributes to feeling rested and refreshed, but so much more happens during sleep. Sleep rejuvenates the cardiovascular and immune systems and regulates the production of the body’s hormones such as leptin and ghrelin. These two hormones control appetite, and when …

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July 13, 2021

Silver Fern Healthcare launches Behavior and Psychosocial Insights Dashboard, harnessing the power of data to enhance population health

Hartford, Conn., July 13, 2021 — Silver Fern Healthcare, a mission-driven SaaS company offering solutions backed by 30 years of evidence-based research to better control and prevent chronic disease and to improve health outcomes, announced the launch of its client-facing Behavior and Psychosocial Insights Dashboard. The Dashboard harnesses data from Silver Fern’s patient assessments to …

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