Part 1
Chronic diseases are the leading cause of deaths occurring in the country as far as the current statistics are concerned. The most common chronic diseases include; stroke, heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes and arthritis (CDC, 2016). Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that about 117 million people of the total adult population have at least one chronic disease (CDC, 2016). This statistic translates to one in every four adults having, at least, one chronic condition (CDC, 2016). In 2010, seven out of 10 disease-related death cases were as a result of chronic diseases (CDC, 2016). The most common of these situations were cancer and heart diseases which summed up to 48% of all the reported death cases. In the period of between 2009 and 2010 (CDC, 2016), 78 million people in the total population were declared as obese with one out of every five youths of ages between two and nineteen being obese (CDC, 2016). Arthritis has been found to be the central cause of disability amongst Americans, as such, 22 million out of 55 million individuals diagnosed by doctors have been reported to have trouble carrying out their usual activities (CDC, 2016). Diabetes has been proved to be a leading reason for lower-limb amputations, kidney failure and new blindness cases in adults.
The risk factors that have been associated with these diseases stem from issues like lack of exercise, tobacco use, poor nutrition and drinking too much alcohol. As such, sufferings, illnesses and early deaths are associated with these behaviors (CDC, 2016). Statistics indicate that 47% of the United States adult population have got multiple risks associated with chronic diseases specifically stroke, high blood pressure, high levels of cholesterol or are smokers (CDC, 2016). Additionally, close to 90 % of the total United States population consume excessive sodium which results to increased risks of high blood pressure occurring to them (CDC, 2016). Cigarette smoking is also another major risk factor in the American population as it accounts for about 480,000 deaths per year (CDC, 2016). Alcohol drinking is responsible for 86,000 deaths every year. 38 million American adults are victims of binge drinking reporting a drinking pattern of about 4 times every month (CDC, 2016). As such, these statistics are very alarming and have had some serious effects on the health care costs of chronic diseases.
These chronic diseases have had profound effects as far as the cost of healthcare is concerned. For instance, in the year 2010, of the total spending on healthcare, 86% was on an individual who had been affected by at least one chronic disease (CDC, 2016). Stroke and heart disease costs for the year 2010 were reported to be estimated at 315.4 billion US dollars. The healthcare costs associated with cancer was 157 billion dollars in the year 2010 (CDC, 2016). The diagnostic costs associated with diabetes stood at 245 billion US dollars for the year 2012 of which 176 billion dollars were directly associated with medical costs whereas 69 billion dollars accounted to decreased productivity since individuals being sickly cannot be in a position to carry out working activities (CDC, 2016). Arthritis and obesity medical accosts accounted for a total of 278 billion dollars in the year 2008. As such, from these figures and statistics, it is clearly showing that indeed chronic diseases have got profound effects on the healthcare system as far as individuals’ productivity is concerned (CDC, 2016). Additionally, the costs incurred in the treatment of these diseases are also high, and as such, there is the need to put into place effective measures that will be used to address these health problems once and for all since by taking into consideration the fact that the monies incurred in the provision of care can be used to carry out other activities which will be beneficial to the country’s economy in terms of efficiency in production (CDC, 2016).
Part 2
How Evidence Based Practice reduces the burden of healthcare
There is the need to adopt the usage of Electronic Health Records with the intentions of effective healthcare delivery models and in reporting the outcomes of patient care which have been collected based on demographic information and clinical practice which is statistically accurate (Oracle, 2009). Such a health record system will translate to patients affected with chronic diseases being able to monitor their health progress and consequently help in maintaining and incorporating Evidence-Based Medicine into their care plans (Oracle, 2009). The integration of individual care delivery across specific demographics of individuals is effective in the sense that care delivery and treatment decision making can be done in a holistic manner (Oracle, 2009). Such a measure has got the effect of reducing any costs associated with taking care of individuals’ affected by chronic diseases. This treatment regime makes it easy for a patient coming from a specific region with specific symptoms of a disease to get the required treatment when their symptoms are compared to their counterparts in different parts of the country (Oracle, 2009). This kind of intervention will be crucial in ensuring that a better treatment regime can be developed using well-researched medication which will eventually reduce health care costs. It is important that physicians taking care of patients utilize Electronic Health Records to have easy access to the current medical information of the patients fighting particular diseases (Oracle, 2009). Such information includes; drug allergies, laboratory tests, medications and other relevant information so that it can be easy for the physician to carry out quick researchers on the specific management of that disease (Oracle, 2009). This will not only result in improved patient outcomes, safety, and satisfaction, it also leads to reduced cost of providing care to individuals affected by chronic diseases because of reduced unnecessary redundancies in care provision (Oracle, 2009).
Cost effectiveness achieved by the use of EBP
Apart from Evidence Based Practice being proved to boost patient outcomes, it has also been effective in checking on the healthcare cost involved in the treatment of chronic diseases (Kolodziej, 2011). As such, there has been the need to incorporate this model of healthcare provision to the various chronic diseases. EBP is also important in the sense that there are going to be minimal toxicities, maximum survival benefits and cost-saving advantages (Kolodziej, 2011). Therefore, the ways in which EBP improves the cost-effectiveness of treatment comes in the sense that less expensive drugs are used. In the event that the correct pathways are developed (Kolodziej, 2011), EBP uses inexpensive drugs without compromising the effectiveness of treatment or even increasing toxicity chances. As such, this is a cost-effective method of providing healthcare to patients suffering from chronic diseases (Kolodziej, 2011).
In the event that more than two therapies are used in the treatment process in line with EBP, lower cases of near misses are likely to happen which will mean that less follow-up medication will be recommended (Kolodziej, 2011). In this direction, therefore, there will be a reduction in expensive supportive drugs usage meant for care. As such, this is a cost-effective model of healthcare for chronic diseases. Finally, the usage of EBP during the treatment process of chronic diseases will result in fewer hospital visits because of the finality in the treatment process (Kolodziej, 2011).
Part 3
The Role of advanced practice nurses on chronic illnesses.
Advanced nurse practitioners are responsible for taking utmost care of patients having a chronic disease to ensure that proper care is given to them with the objectives of realizing desirable patient outcomes from their actions (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012). As such, these nurses are in charge of conducting diagnostic reasoning, progressive therapeutic interventions, and referral of cases to consultants in case their severities increase (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012). Advanced practice nurses are also on the forefront in consulting with other members of the interprofessional teams in order to come with the most effective method that will be used in addressing the healthcare needs of patients with chronic diseases (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012).
In this direction, therefore, it is the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner that is in charge of taking care of the needs of most patients with chronic illnesses (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012). The objectives that this nurse practitioner usually strives to achieve is ensuring that patients stabilize, prevention of complications in patients, taking care of comorbidities and also in the promotion of the psychological and physical well-being of patients under their care (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012). Additionally, these nurses are also responsible for evaluating the risk factors most likely to predispose a particular individual to such chronic diseases, and how to achieve the objective of better patient outcomes (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012).
On health promotion, the Advanced Care Nurse Practitioner is responsible for carrying out health education and disease prevention seminars and demonstrations to the general community with the objectives of passing information concerning how to stay healthy to avoid any disease incidences (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012). Such efforts are aimed at making communities beware of how to avoid these diseases and generally how to live healthily. On the management of medication, these nurses are responsible for taking patients’ medical histories and physical examinations that are essential for diagnostic analysis (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012). Additionally, they are responsible for treating and managing patients with chronic illnesses. Finally, the Advanced Care Nurse Practitioner is also responsible for taking down information concerning the different symptoms of chronic diseases so that the right diagnosis can be effected which will lead to the appropriate treatment (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012). As such, it is clear that advanced practice nurses are responsible for taking care of patients with chronic diseases to ensure that they come out with desirable outcomes and lower morbidity and mortality cases (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2012).
References
American Association of Critical Care Nurses. (2012). AACN scope and standards for acute care nurse practitioner practice. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.org/wd/practice/docs/acnp-scope-and-standards.pdf
CDC. (2016). Chronic Disease Overview | Publications | Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion | CDC. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/overview/
Kolodziej, M. (2011). Does evidence-based medicine really reduce costs? Retrieved from http://www.cancernetwork.com/practice-policy/does-evidence-based-medicine-really-reduce-costs
Oracle. (2009). How providers can lower costs and improve patient care using evidence based medicine. Retrieved from http://www.oracle.com/us/industries/018896.pdf
