Recognizing that people with chronic illnesses are a special challenge for the medical profession, the Medtronic Foundation has announced plans to give $2.4 million to three healthcare institutions to develop integrated, patient-centered care models for these patients.
Patient-centered care is aimed at boosting the existing medical system, in which patients with chronic diseases end up in the hospital and are treated for the acute results of the condition. While medicine is often able to treat acute conditions, such as heart attacks, the foundation sees a "gap" in care as the patient's wellness is not addressed.
The institutions awarded the three-year Health Center Leadership Grants will use them to help integrate their own acute and chronic care programs:
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center will further integrate its clinical and complementary-care services and help patients assume an active role in their health care;
Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine plans to spread its integrated cardiovascular care program to all other Scripps locations;
Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention/The Stanford Heart Network will use its grant to enhance and expand its educational risk-reduction program.
More than 100 million Americans live with chronic health conditions. Treatment for those conditions accounts for more than 80 percent of all medical costs, the foundation reports.
Recognizing that people with chronic illnesses are a special challenge for the medical profession, the Medtronic Foundation has announced plans to give $2.4 million to three healthcare institutions to develop integrated, patient-centered care models for these patients.
